“Brian’s deep finance knowledge and broad cross-functional experience will be a great asset as we continue our transformation,” UPS Chairman and CEO David Abney said^[11] when the hire was announced.

Other former PepsiCo finance chiefs that have taken top jobs outside the company in the last year include Chris Turner, hired as CFO of Yum Brands^[12] in August, and Gary Rahlfs, who in October left his position^[13] as CFO of University of North Texas to step in as interim CFO of Dean Foods until a permanent replacement is found. While at PepsiCo, Turner held several senior vice president posts and Rahlfs was vice president of finance. 

Simmons said PepsiCo executives tend to be good fits for these top CFO jobs because they come with years of experience as a strategic partner for executive leaders. 

“If you’re CFO of a division of Pepsi, you’ve partnered with the president of the division, and that means a true partnership,” he said. “If there’s a deal to be done, if there’s a market to expand into, you’re part of that discussion, so it’s a good training ground for sharpening strategic skills. It’s not handled by a centralized M&A function that’s doing the big-picture thinking. You’re actually doing that P&L. It’s just a really good platform on which a finance person can grow.”

Premium on ethics

PepsiCo alumni also bring the experience of working for what the Ethisphere Institute considers one of the most ethical companies in the world. 

The institute launched in 2006, and in 2007 began identifying global corporations that try to incorporate environmental and social sustainability and good governance into their business models​. PepsiCo has been recognized^[14] on its list of top companies every year since the beginning, and in 2018, in her last year as CEO, Nooyi gave the keynote address for the year’s winners. 

“When I was CFO, I talked to all my finance people around the world and kept up the drumbeat: ethics, integrity. It’s an all or nothing thing,” she said in her remarks^[15]. “There isn’t [something that’s] 95% ethical or 80% ethical. That doesn’t work. Either you’re ethical or you’re not. It’s a binary switch.”