Hugh Johnston to Succeed Richard Goodman as PepsiCo's CFO
PepsiCo’s chief financial officer (CFO) Richard Goodman will be succeeded at the end of March by Hugh Johnston, a 23-year company veteran who currently serves as executive vice president (EVP) of PepsiCo Global Operations.
Goodman has distinguished himself in a range of senior finance and strategy positions, including playing a central role in completing PepsiCo’s largest acquisitions in nearly a decade. He joined the company in 1992 as vice president of international strategic planning and went on to serve as CFO of former PepsiCo restaurant units KFC International and Taco Bell. Later he was named PepsiCo’s general auditor and head of risk management. In 2001, he became CFO of the company’s international beverage unit and, in 2003, CFO of its combined international food and beverage business, helping to grow sales outside North America from less than US$8bn in 2003 to close to US$13 bn in 2006.
As PepsiCo CFO since 2006, he has helped to successfully steer the company through the global economic crisis and to complete major acquisitions, including the purchase of PepsiCo’s two largest bottlers last month. He also established PepsiCo Finance University to support the professional development of the company’s finance leaders and is executive sponsor of the resource group for PepsiCo’s African-American employees.
Prior to PepsiCo, Goodman was with WR Grace and Company in a variety of global CFO roles. He holds undergraduate and PhD degrees in English, as well as an MBA in finance, all from Columbia University.
Hugh Johnston is a long-time company leader who was named EVP of global operations earlier this year, with additional responsibilities for the post-merger integration of the two bottling companies.
Since joining PepsiCo in 1987, Johnston has held merger and acquisition (M&A), finance and strategy positions in PepsiCo’s corporate headquarters as well as finance and general management roles in its North American snack and beverage businesses.
Johnston left PepsiCo from August 1999 through March 2002 to pursue a general management role as vice president (VP), retail, at Merck Medco, leading the company’s retail pharmacy card business. He rejoined PepsiCo in 2002 as senior vice president (SVP) of M&As, and then became CFO for PepsiCo Beverages & Foods, where he was responsible for leading the finance function for Pepsi-Cola North America, Tropicana, Gatorade North America and Quaker Foods North America. He held this position until 2005, when he became SVP of transformation, and in 2006 he assumed the role of EVP of operations, responsible for the company’s global transformation, supply chain, procurement and information technology functions.
In 2007, he was named president of Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages (PCNAB), responsible for strategic direction and financial performance, with accountability for sales, franchise management, field marketing and operations. In that role he positioned the PCNAB product portfolio to compete more effectively in a very challenging external environment.
He holds a master’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago and a BSc degree in finance from Syracuse University.