Ramon Laguarta

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer PepsiCo

Last Reviewed: October 3, 2026

Executive Summary

Ramon Laguarta has been chief executive of PepsiCo since 2018 and chairman since 2019, running the maker of Frito-Lay snacks and Pepsi drinks across more than 200 countries and territories. He joined PepsiCo in 1996 from the Spanish confectioner Chupa Chups and spent two decades in Europe, running snacks businesses in Spain and Greece, the Eastern Europe region and finally the Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa sector, before a year as president. As chief executive he has set PepsiCo’s strategy around pep+, its sustainability-centered framework, and a shift of the portfolio toward less sugar and sodium and more international growth. He spent more than two decades of his PepsiCo career in Europe before running the whole company from Purchase, New York.

Career Highlights

• Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo; CEO since 2018 and Chairman since 2019.
• President of PepsiCo, 2017 to 2018, overseeing global categories, operations, strategy and public policy.
• Chief Executive Officer of Europe Sub-Saharan Africa, 2015 to 2017.
• Led the acquisition and integration of PepsiCo’s dairy business in Russia, according to PepsiCo.
• Director of IBM since March 2026.

Professional Journey

Laguarta earned an MBA at ESADE Business School in Spain and a Master in International Management at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He worked for Chupa Chups, the Spanish confectionery company, in international assignments across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States before joining PepsiCo in 1996 as a marketing vice president for Spain Snacks.

He then ran businesses across Europe: general manager for Greece Snacks from 1999 to 2001, general manager for Iberia Snacks and Juices from 2002 to 2006, commercial vice president of PepsiCo Europe, and leader of the Eastern Europe region from 2008 to 2012, a period in which, according to PepsiCo, he led the acquisition and integration of its dairy business in Russia. From 2012 he was president of developing and emerging markets for PepsiCo Europe, became CEO of PepsiCo Europe in 2015 and then CEO of Europe Sub-Saharan Africa until 2017.

As PepsiCo’s president from 2017 to 2018 he was responsible for corporate strategy, overseeing the global category groups, global operations, strategy, public policy and government affairs, and The PepsiCo Foundation. He became chief executive and a director in 2018 and chairman in 2019.

As chief executive he introduced pep+, the company’s framework for putting sustainability at the center of growth, and has focused strategy on transforming the portfolio, expanding internationally and reaching new eating and drinking occasions, including away-from-home channels. PepsiCo sells food and beverages in more than 200 countries and territories through six reportable segments and employed about 306,000 people at the end of 2025, according to its annual report. He was elected to IBM’s board effective 1 March 2026 and sits on the board of the Business Roundtable. He speaks six languages, including Catalan and Greek.

Education

ESADE Business School

MBA

Thunderbird School of Global Management

Master in International Management