PepsiCo Names Larry D. Thompson General Counsel; Succeeds David R. Andrews, Who Retires in February

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) today announced that Larry D. Thompson, 58, would assume the role of senior vice president and General Counsel for the corporation, succeeding David R. Andrews, 62, who will retire in February. Andrews made a three-year commitment to PepsiCo in 2002, delaying his retirement after serving as the Legal Adviser to the U.S. State Department from 1997 to 2000, to lead the company’s legal and government affairs functions and to help secure PepsiCo’s next General Counsel.

Thompson will have responsibility for PepsiCo’s worldwide legal function, as well as its government affairs organization and the company’s charitable Foundation. He will report directly to Chairman and CEO Steven S Reinemund, and serve on PepsiCo’s senior executive committee. He will be based at PepsiCo’s headquarters in Purchase, NY.

“Larry Thompson brings an impressive array of legal and leadership skills and experience to PepsiCo,” said Reinemund. “From his legal and policy prowess demonstrated at the most senior levels of the U.S. government to his deep experience in private practice, he brings a wealth of capabilities to serve our global enterprise.”

“I also want to thank Dave Andrews for deferring his retirement plans and successfully steering PepsiCo through a period of unprecedented legal and governance change,” said Reinemund. “The results we have obtained have been literally second to none. Corporate governance rating agencies such as Institutional Shareholders Services (ISS), and Governance Metrics International (GMI) have ranked PepsiCo at or near the highest ratings for corporate governance, and that is a credit to Dave’s leadership. I am confident that the solid legal foundation Dave has built for the company will be smoothly transitioned to Larry over the next six months.”

Thompson joins PepsiCo from the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., where he is a Senior Fellow. He is also a member of the board of directors for Delta Airlines.

His government career includes serving in the U.S. Department of Justice, where his role as Deputy Attorney General included supervision of overall operations. In 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft named Mr. Thompson to lead the National Security Coordination Council. Also in 2002, President Bush named Thompson to head the Corporate Fraud Task Force. He led the Justice Department’s ongoing Enron investigation, and was responsible for corporate fraud investigations.

With a law degree from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree from Michigan State University, and a bachelor’s degree from Culver-Stockton College, Thompson added another chapter to his academic career in 2004 as a visiting professor of law at the University of Georgia.

PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies with annual revenues of $27 billion. Its principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. The company’s portfolio includes 16 brands that each generates $1 billion or more in annual retail sales.