Indra Nooyi (née Krishnamurthy, born 28 October 1955) is an Indian-born American business executive who was chairman and chief executive of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018. She joined the company in 1994 and was its fifth CEO. This biography follows her life and career up to November 2026.
Indra Nooyi at a Glance
| Full name | Indra Nooyi (née Krishnamurthy) |
| Born | 28 October 1955, Madras (now Chennai), India |
| Age | 71 (as of November 2026) |
| Profession | Business executive; former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo |
| Education | Madras Christian College (1975); IIM Calcutta (1976); Yale School of Management (1980) |
| PepsiCo | Joined 1994; CEO 2006 to 2018; chair until early 2019 |
| Board roles | Amazon board (since February 2019); International Cricket Council |
| Spouse | Raj K. Nooyi (married 1981) |
| Children | Two daughters |
| Memoir | My Life in Full (2021) |
Early Life and Education
Indra Nooyi was born in Madras, now Chennai, as the second of three children and went to Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in T. Nagar. Her mother, who had no formal education, set her daughters strategic games at the dinner table, including asking them to write a speech about what they would do if they held a position of power such as prime minister. Nooyi played guitar in an all-girl band and was a keen cricketer.
She earned bachelor's degrees in physics, chemistry and mathematics from Madras Christian College in 1975 and a postgraduate diploma from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1976. After working at Johnson & Johnson and the textile firm Beardsell in India, she was admitted to the Yale School of Management in 1978 and moved to the United States, earning a master's degree in public and private management in 1980.
Early Career
At Yale she completed a summer internship with Booz Allen Hamilton, and in 1980 she joined the Boston Consulting Group as a strategy consultant. She then worked at Motorola as vice president and director of corporate strategy and planning, followed by a stint at Asea Brown Boveri.
PepsiCo
Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 as senior vice president for strategic planning. She became senior vice president for corporate strategy and development, was chief financial officer from February 2000, and was named president and CFO in 2001, when she also joined the board. She helped lead the 1997 spin-off of the restaurant business that is now Yum! Brands, the 1998 acquisition of Tropicana for $3.3 billion, and the 2001 merger with Quaker Oats, which brought the company the Gatorade sports drink brand.
In 2006 she succeeded Steven Reinemund as CEO, becoming the fifth chief executive in PepsiCo's 44-year history. She called her strategy "Performance with a Purpose" and sorted products into "fun for you", "better for you" and "good for you" categories, moving spending toward healthier options and working on packaging, water and energy use. PepsiCo announced in August 2018 that she would step down, and Ramon Laguarta, a 22-year veteran of the company, replaced her as CEO on 3 October 2018. She stayed on as chair until early 2019.
Recognition and Later Work
Nooyi was named to Time's list of the 100 most influential people in 2007 and 2008, and Fortune ranked her first on its list of the Most Powerful Women in Business in 2009 and 2010. She joined the Amazon board in February 2019 and has served on the board of the International Cricket Council. In 2019 she became co-director of a Connecticut economic development partnership, and in April 2020 she co-chaired the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2021, the year she published her memoir My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future.
Personal Life
Nooyi married Raj K. Nooyi, president of AmSoft Systems, in 1981. They have two daughters and live in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Legacy
Nooyi was one of the few women of Indian origin to run a global Fortune 500 company, and she is remembered for pushing PepsiCo toward healthier products and sustainability goals while she led it for 12 years. She has also become a prominent voice on work, family and women in business.
