PepsiCo names first woman CEO: Indra Nooyi

U.S. soft drink and snack company PepsiCo Inc. announced that chief financial officer Indra Nooyi will take over from Chairman and CEO Steve Reinemund in October 2006. Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named CFO in 2001. Indra Nooyi s current responsibilities will be divided between two PepsiCo veterans: Richard Goodman,CFO of PepsiCo International, and Hugh Johnston, senior vice president of the company.


Steve Reinemund will remain as chairman of the company until his retirement in May 2007. He cited personal reasons for his decision to retire. "My family is entitled to more time from me than the responsibilities and obligations of continuing as PepsiCo s CEO requires and deserves," Reinemund said in a statement. "It was, in many respects, the toughest and easiest decision of my life."