Nooyi named new PepsiCo boss

NEW YORK — PepsiCo Inc. said Monday that Chief Financial Officer Indra K. Nooyi will replace Steven Reinemund as chief executive officer of the soft-drink and snacks company, making her the No. 2 female CEO in the Fortune 500.

With her Oct. 1 appointment, Nooyi takes her place in an elite group of 11 female CEOs running Fortune 500 companies. Patricia Woertz at agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland Co. ranks first. ADM is ranked 56th in the Fortune 500, while PepsiCo, the world’s second-largest soft-drink company after Coca-Cola Co., is ranked 61st.

“I’m very excited and at the same time very humbled,” Nooyi told analysts during a conference call on Monday morning.

Nooyi said she felt fortunate to be taking over a time when PepsiCo was in such strong position, with solid growth across all its business units. She and Reinemund have worked closely over the last five years, and Nooyi described their relationship as one in which they complete each other’s sentences.

“Indra Nooyi is truly a star and has been working side by side with Mr. Reinemund over the past several years,” Citigroup analyst Bonnie Herzog wrote. “She has been very involved with every major decision PepsiCo has made over the past five-plus years and therefore we expect this transition to be very smooth.”

Reinemund, 58, will continue as chairman of the board until his retirement in May 2007. He has worked for Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo for 22 years, serving as chairman and CEO for five.

Nooyi, 50, has been with the company since 1994 and has been CFO since 2001. She will be the fifth CEO in PepsiCo’s 41-year history.

Shares of PepsiCo rose 62 cents, to close at $63.95 on the New York Stock Exchange.