Indra Nooyi (born 28 October 1955) is an Indian-American business executive who was chief executive of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018 and its chairman until early 2019. The first woman and first person born outside the United States to lead the company, she steered it towards healthier products while its revenue grew by about 80 per cent. She received the Padma Bhushan in 2007.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi |
| Born | 28 October 1955, Madras (now Chennai), India |
| Age | 70 |
| Nationality | American (born Indian) |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Post | CEO, PepsiCo (2006–2018) |
| Education | Holy Angels School, Chennai; Madras Christian College (B.Sc., 1974); IIM Calcutta (1976); Yale School of Management (1980) |
| Spouse | Raj Nooyi (m. 1981) |
| Children | 2 daughters |
| Honour | Padma Bhushan (2007) |
Early Life
Indra Krishnamurthy grew up in a Tamil Brahmin family in T. Nagar, Chennai. Her mother would ask her daughters at dinner to give speeches on what they would do as prime minister. At college she played cricket and was the guitarist in an all-girl rock band. After IIM Calcutta she worked for Johnson & Johnson and the textile firm Mettur Beardsell in India, then won a place at Yale and left for the United States in 1978, working nights as a receptionist to pay her way.
Career
She spent six years at the Boston Consulting Group and held strategy posts at Motorola and the engineering company Asea Brown Boveri.
She joined PepsiCo in 1994 as head of strategy. She was the architect of its decisions to spin off its restaurant chains, KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, in 1997, to buy Tropicana in 1998 and to merge with Quaker Oats, the owner of Gatorade, in 2001. She became chief financial officer and president that year.
As chief executive from October 2006 she set out a philosophy she called “Performance with Purpose”: cutting sugar, salt and fat, expanding juices, oats and other healthier lines, and reducing water and energy use. Some investors pressed her to split the snacks and drinks businesses, which she resisted. Revenue rose from about 35 billion dollars to more than 63 billion during her tenure. She stepped down in October 2018.
She joined the board of Amazon in 2019 and was the first independent woman director of the International Cricket Council.
Books
Personal Life
She married Raj Nooyi, a management consultant, in 1981; they have two daughters and live in Connecticut. Her elder sister, Chandrika Tandon, is a businesswoman and Grammy-winning musician.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Indra Nooyi born?
Indra Nooyi was born on 28 October 1955 in Madras (now Chennai), India and is 70 years old.
What is Indra Nooyi’s occupation?
Occupation: Business executive.
Featured image: Indra Nooyi, then chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, at the World Economic Forum, Davos, January 2008. Photo by World Economic Forum, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
