Indra Nooyi Net Worth

What is Indra Nooyi's Net Worth and Salary?

Indra Nooyi is an Indian-born American businesswoman who has a net worth of $300 million. Indra Nooyi was the chair and CEO of PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018, and during her tenure, she focused on environmental concerns, sustainability, and healthy food alternatives. Among her many other activities, she sits on the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council.

Salary History & Stock Holdings

Indra Nooyi's wealth stems primarily from her 12-year tenure as CEO of PepsiCo (2006–2018), during which she earned approximately $200 million in cumulative compensation, including salary, cash bonuses, and equity. Her annual pay rose steadily from $6.4 million in 2006 to over $31 million by 2017, with much of her compensation tied to performance-based stock awards. Between 2015 and 2017 alone, she earned $87 million, reflecting PepsiCo's strong financial performance under her leadership.

The most valuable component of Nooyi's fortune is her PepsiCo stock, which she accumulated through decades of equity grants. Upon her retirement, she was PepsiCo's largest individual shareholder, holding about 1.47 million shares. At a share price of roughly $150, that stake is worth around $220 million. She has occasionally sold shares, including a 2017 sale worth $52.7 million, but retained a large long-term position. Her stock ownership alone far exceeds the value of her lifetime cash earnings.

After leaving PepsiCo, Nooyi joined several corporate boards, including Amazon, which granted her 549 shares (worth roughly $864,000 at the time), and Schlumberger, where she earned around $300,000 annually in director compensation. These board roles supplement her wealth but represent only a small fraction of her PepsiCo-based fortune.

Early Life and Education

Indra Nooyi was born Indra Krishnamurthy on October 28, 1955 in Madras, India into a Tamil Brahmin family. She has an older sister named Chandrika who became a businesswoman and Grammy Award-winning musical artist. Nooyi was educated at Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School before attending Madras Christian College. After graduating from MCC with her BS degree in 1975, she went to Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, where she earned her MBA degree in 1976. Nooyi went on to attend the Yale School of Management in the United States, receiving her MS degree in 1980.

Career Beginnings

Nooyi started her professional career in India, working in product manager roles for Johnson & Johnson and the textile firm Beardsell. After graduating from Yale in 1980, she became a strategy consultant at Boston Consulting Group. Nooyi followed that with stints at Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri.

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PepsiCo

Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 as the company's senior vice president for strategic planning. She remained in that position until 1996, and then served as senior vice president of corporate strategy and development until 2000. After that, Nooyi spent a little over a year as PepsiCo's senior vice president and CFO. In 2001, she was promoted to president and CFO and earned a place on the company's board of directors. During her first decade at PepsiCo, Nooyi directed the company's global strategy and spearheaded its restructuring, which included the divestiture of Tricon in 1997, the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998, and the acquisition of the Quaker Oats Company in 2001. The latter, a $3.3 billion purchase, brought Gatorade under the ownership of PepsiCo. After this lucrative move, the annual net profit of PepsiCo increased from $2.7 billion to $6.5 billion.

In 2006, Nooyi was named CEO of PepsiCo. Over the ensuing years, she focused on redirecting the company to create long-term growth while emphasizing positive social and environment impacts. Nooyi categorized PepsiCo's products into three groups based on health level: "fun for you," "better for you," and "good for you." She turned corporate spending away from junk food toward healthier alternatives and removed aspartame from Diet Pepsi in 2015. Additionally, Nooyi led efforts to create more environmentally friendly and sustainable products while employing renewable energy. She even considered a name change for PepsiCo and a move away from soda, but this was never realized. Nooyi stepped down as CEO in the summer of 2018 and was succeeded by Ramon Laguarta, a PepsiCo veteran. Nooyi kept her position as chair of the company until early 2019.

Further Positions

In early 2008, Nooyi was elected chairwoman of the US-India Business Council. Later, from 2015 to 2020, she was a director of Schlumberger. During that time, Nooyi joined the boards of the International Cricket Council and Amazon. After leaving PepsiCo in 2019, she became co-director of the newly formed Connecticut Economic Resource Center, a private-public partnership with the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. The next year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Nooyi served as a co-chair alongside Yale epidemiologist Dr. Albert Ko of the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group. Among her many other positions, she is a member of the foundation boards of the World Economic Forum, Catalyst, and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and a member of the board of trustees of Eisenhower Fellowships.

Honors and Awards

In both 2007 and 2008, Nooyi was named on Time's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. In the latter year, she was named the third-most powerful woman by Forbes. Meanwhile, Nooyi was named the most powerful woman in business by Fortune magazine for five consecutive years. Her many other honors include an induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2021 and a Golden Book Award in 2022. Nooyi also has several honorary doctorates, including ones from Yale University, the University of Warwick, Duke University, and Babson College.

Personal Life

Nooyi has been married to fellow business executive Raj Nooyi since 1981. Together, they have two daughters and live in Greenwich, Connecticut.

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