PepsiCo’s New CEO Builds Out His Team With Naming of a Top Deputy
(Bloomberg) -- PepsiCo Inc. has promoted Laxman Narasimhan to the newly created position of chief commercial officer, giving Chief Executive Officer Ramon Laguarta a top deputy as he tries to ignite faster growth at the beverage and snack giant.
Narasimhan, who joined PepsiCo in 2012 from McKinsey & Co. and has been running the consumer company's operations in Latin America, Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, becomes one of its top-ranking executives. The 51-year-old will oversee key operations including marketing, research and development, strategy and e-commerce at a time when the company grapples with changing tastes and economic uncertainty that have created challenges for consumer companies.
“Laxman is the ideal executive to take on this important new role,” Laguarta said in a statement. “He will be instrumental as we sharpen our integrated long-term growth strategy.”
Laguarta, 55, is starting to put his stamp on PepsiCo after taking over from former CEO Indra Nooyi in October. The company recently said profit will fall this year as it spends to bring its well-know global brands to new markets.
It's also been boosting marketing spending to sustain sales growth in North America and adding trucks and drivers to boost distribution of its Frito-Lay snacks. It's slashing costs, reducing headcount and returning about $8 billion to investors this year through buybacks and dividends.
The company also announced that Rene Lammers is taking over as chief science officer as Mehmood Khan retires from PepsiCo this month. Khan will become chief executive officer of Life Biosciences Inc., a startup with more than $75 million in venture funding aiming to help people live longer, healthier lives, according to the new biotechnology company.
PepsiCo had gained 5.2 percent this year through Friday's close, lagging the 12 percent gain for the S&P 500.
--With assistance from Robert Langreth.
To contact the reporter on this story: Craig Giammona in New York at cgiammona@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Drew Armstrong
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
