One of most powerful India born women in the world turns 65
KI Singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
Frequently ranked among the most powerful women in the world, Indra Nooyi, former Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PepsiCo is celebrating her 65th birthday, today. She was born on October 28, 1955. Indra married Raj K. Nooyi, president at AmSoft Systems, in 1981 and has two daughters
She has consistently ranked among the world’s 100 most powerful women. In 2014, she was ranked at number 13 on the Forbes list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, and was ranked the 2nd most powerful woman on the Fortune list in 2015. She serves on the board of Amazon, the International Cricket Council, and Schlumberger.
Nooyi was born in Chennai (then Madras) in Tamil Nadu, and studied at the Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in 1974 from the Madras Christian College with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, she secured a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Calcutta’s Indian Institute of Management in 1976. She used to play cricket and was also in an all-girl rock band, where she played guitar.
In India, she worked in Johnson & Johnson and the textile firm Mettur Beardsell till she secured admission to the Yale School of Management in 1978 — marking the beginning of her journey in the United States. While attending Yale School of Management, Nooyi completed her summer internship with Booz Allen Hamilton. In 1980, Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a strategy consultant, and then worked at Motorola as Vice President and Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning, followed by a stint at Asea Brown Boveri.
Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named CEO in 2006, replacing Steven Reinemund, becoming the fifth CEO in PepsiCo’s 44-year history
The company she leads is an American multinational food and beverage corporation whose products are available around the world. Its portfolio includes 22 brands, each generating more than $1 billion in estimated annual retail sales.
Nooyi served as CEO for 12 years, 7 years longer than the average CEO tenure at large companies and left Pepsico in October 2018.
After leaving Pepsico, Nooyi joined Amazon’s board of directors, the online retail giant.
“Growing up in India, I had a long-distance love affair with America,” Nooyi recalled in a 2010 speech to the Brennan Center for Justice. “I admired everything about this country — its ideals, its commitment to justice, equality and its willingness to break barriers.”
