PLACE OF BIRTH: CHENNAI, INDIA
TITLE: CEO AND CHAIRMAN, PEPSICO
IMPACT: AS ONLY THE FIFTH CEO IN PEPSICO’S 51-YEAR HISTORY, Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi has worked to put the company in line with more health-conscious patrons by facilitating acquisitions of brands such as Tropicana and Quaker Oats. Born and raised in Chennai, India, and receiving a BS in physics, chemistry and mathematics, as well as an MBA before coming to the U.S. to earn a master’s from the Yale School of Management, she became PepsiCo’s first female CEO in 2006 and its first of foreign birth. Since Nooyi moved into a leadership position at PepsiCo, becoming president and CFO in 2001, the company’s annual net profits doubledfrom $2.7 billion to $5.45 billion. Nooyi ranked as the eighth-highest-paid CEO in the world this year with a salary of $22.2 million. But she also gives back: She gifted Yale an undisclosed amount, making her its biggest alumni donor; in turn the School of Management is naming its deanship in her honor. However, Nooyi has said her gift “pales in comparison with the gift that Yale gave me: the fundamental understanding that leadership requires an expansive worldview.”
TITLE: CEO AND CHAIRMAN, PEPSICO
IMPACT: AS ONLY THE FIFTH CEO IN PEPSICO’S 51-YEAR HISTORY, Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi has worked to put the company in line with more health-conscious patrons by facilitating acquisitions of brands such as Tropicana and Quaker Oats. Born and raised in Chennai, India, and receiving a BS in physics, chemistry and mathematics, as well as an MBA before coming to the U.S. to earn a master’s from the Yale School of Management, she became PepsiCo’s first female CEO in 2006 and its first of foreign birth. Since Nooyi moved into a leadership position at PepsiCo, becoming president and CFO in 2001, the company’s annual net profits doubledfrom $2.7 billion to $5.45 billion. Nooyi ranked as the eighth-highest-paid CEO in the world this year with a salary of $22.2 million. But she also gives back: She gifted Yale an undisclosed amount, making her its biggest alumni donor; in turn the School of Management is naming its deanship in her honor. However, Nooyi has said her gift “pales in comparison with the gift that Yale gave me: the fundamental understanding that leadership requires an expansive worldview.”
Photo by Urs Jaudas/Getty Images
