PepsiCo: Indra Nooyi stepping down as CEO

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Indra Nooyi, one of the most prominent female CEOs in the world, announced Monday she will step down as head of PepsiCo following 12 years navigating the soft drinks and snacks company through a tricky climate of shifting consumer taste amid rising health concerns.

Nooyi, 62, who was born in India, will be replaced as chief executive by President Ramon Laguarta on October 3, but will remain as chair of the board until early 2019 to oversee the transition.

"Today is a day of mixed emotions for me," Nooyi said on Twitter. PepsiCo "has been my life for 24 years & part of my heart will always remain here."

Among the 500 companies in the S&P 500, only 25 -- or five percent -- are led by women, including Nooyi.

The group includes Lockheed Martin's Marilyn Hewson, IBM's Ginni Rometty and General Motors' Mary Barra, who in June appointed Dhivya Suryadevara as the company's first female chief financial officer

Nooyi told Bloomberg News on Monday that she planned to advocate for more women to serve at the highest levels of corporations, saying "my job is in fact just beginning once I leave PepsiCo because I can do things now that I was constrained to do when I was CEO of the company."

Under her leadership, PepsiCo net revenues rose from 35 billion US dollars in 2006 to 63.5 billion US dollars in 2017, with much of the growth coming from international markets.

PepsiCo's moves included buying a 50 percent stake in US hummus maker Sabra in 2008 and acquisition of Brazilian snack company Mabel in 2011, a year that also saw the company unveil an alliance with Tingyi Holding in China.

Source(s): AFP