CEO of PepsiCo Ramon Laguarta: Career Path from Candy Company to $26 Million Annual Salary

The story of how someone goes from working at a lollipop company to running one of the world's biggest food and beverage empires is pretty fascinating. Ramon Laguarta didn't start out with connections to PepsiCo or some fancy executive background. He built his career step by step, country by country, learning the business from the ground up. Today, as the CEO of PepsiCo, he's pulling in more than $26 million a year and sitting on a net worth that could be anywhere from $70 million to $160 million, depending on who's counting. But the real story isn't just about the money—it's about how he got there and what he learned along the way.

Early Career: From Chupa Chups to First PepsiCo Paycheck

Ramon was born in Barcelona back in 1963, and after wrapping up his MBA at ESADE Business School in 1985 and getting another master's degree in international management from Thunderbird School in 1986, he landed his first real job at Chupa Chups—yeah, the lollipop company. From the late 1980s through 1996, he bounced around different markets, working in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and eventually made his way to the United States where he became General Manager from 1992 to 1996.

Those years at Chupa Chups were huge for him. Working across so many different countries taught him how consumers think differently depending on where they live, and he got hands-on experience building brands internationally. This is where he earned his first decent paycheck too, though nobody's publishing exactly what a candy company was paying back then. What matters is that he learned the ropes of brand management and global expansion—skills that would pay off big time later.

Then in January 1996, Laguarta made what turned out to be the smartest career move of his life: he joined PepsiCo. Started out in their European division, working on business development and marketing snacks in Spain. The salary was probably decent for that time—likely somewhere in the six figures—but nothing compared to what he'd eventually be making.

Building the Foundation: PepsiCo Career Growth and Rising Earnings

Here's where things get interesting. Laguarta didn't just stick around in one place—he kept moving up and around. After doing well in Spain, he got his first big international assignment within PepsiCo in 1999, managing Greece and Cyprus. Think about that for a second—the company trusted him enough to run entire markets. After a couple years there, he came back to Spain in 2001 and spent five years running the Iberia Snacks and Juices operation.

During this whole stretch in the early 2000s, he was probably pulling in somewhere between $200,000 to maybe $500,000 a year—good money, but still just a fraction of where he'd end up. The real jump came in 2006 when he got promoted to Commercial Vice President for all of PepsiCo Europe, and then President of Developing Markets. These weren't small jobs, and the pay reflected that. We're talking high six figures, possibly breaking into seven figures.

But 2014 was when everything changed. That's when the CEO of PepsiCo's European and Sub-Saharan Africa division became Ramon Laguarta. This was massive—he was running one of the company's most complicated regions. During this time, he led the takeover of Wimm-Bill-Dann, a Russian company, in a deal worth $5.4 billion. Yeah, with a B. When you're managing billion-dollar acquisitions and entire continents, your paycheck reflects it. He was probably making somewhere in the $3 to $5 million range annually at this point, maybe more.

Fast forward to September 2017, and he got promoted to President of PepsiCo. Everyone could see where this was heading—he was being groomed to take over the whole company. In this role, he was basically second in command, overseeing strategy, global operations, everything. His compensation here was likely pushing $10 to $15 million a year when you add up salary, bonuses, and stock options.

Reaching the Peak: CEO Compensation and Current Wealth

October 3, 2018—that's the day Ramon Laguarta officially became CEO of PepsiCo, taking over from Indra Nooyi. A few months later, in February 2019, they made him Chairman of the Board too. He became the sixth person ever to run PepsiCo, and get this—he's the first Spanish guy to ever run a major American company at this level. And this is where the money got absolutely crazy.

In 2021, his total compensation hit $25.5 million. By 2023, it jumped to $26.2 million—that's an 8% bump from the year before. To put that in perspective, he was making 648 times what the average PepsiCo worker was making. Not exactly subtle. Then in 2024, his compensation climbed even higher, hitting somewhere between $28.8 million and $34 million depending on how you calculate all the stock awards and incentives.

Now here's the thing about how CEO pay works—it's not like he's getting a $26 million paycheck every two weeks. His actual salary is only around $1.5 to $1.8 million a year, which is still insane money for most people but is actually the smallest part of what he makes. The real money comes from stock awards—usually $10 to $15 million worth every year—that vest over time and depend on how well PepsiCo's stock performs. Then there are performance bonuses that add a few million more on top. So his pay is directly tied to whether he's actually doing a good job running the company.

Current Net Worth and Assets of the CEO of PepsiCo

So how much is Ramon Laguarta actually worth? Estimates are all over the place, ranging from $70 million on the conservative end to as high as $160 million. The lower numbers just look at his more recent stock holdings and compensation, while the higher estimates factor in everything he's accumulated over his 25-plus years at PepsiCo, including all the stock that's vested over time, plus his private investments.

He's not just sitting on PepsiCo stock either. The guy owns multiple properties, including a nice place in Purchase, New York, which makes sense since that's where PepsiCo's headquarters are. He's also got investments in various stocks and mutual funds beyond just his company shares. According to SEC filings, he owns around 310,757 shares of PepsiCo stock, which at current prices is worth over $45 million—though that number bounces around with the stock market.

Being the CEO of PepsiCo also comes with other perks. He sits on the board of Visa and the Business Roundtable, which typically pays directors anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000 a year. He's also Co-Chair of something called the World Economic Forum's Board of Stewards for the Food Systems Initiative, which is basically a fancy way of saying he's got influence over global business and policy decisions.

Core Success Principles: How Ramon Laguarta Built His Empire

Over the years, the CEO of PepsiCo has talked pretty openly about what actually helped him get to the top. These aren't just corporate buzzwords he throws around in interviews—they're things he's actually lived by throughout his career.

• Put Consumers First, Always: Laguarta built his whole career on figuring out what people actually want, not what companies think they should want. He's obsessed with understanding the end consumer and constantly adjusting products and strategies to meet what people are looking for, even if that means ditching stuff that used to work.

• Think Like You Own the Place: One of his biggest things is getting everyone to act like owners, not just employees. That means taking real responsibility for what happens, thinking about the long game instead of just the next quarterly report, and being willing to make tough calls that help the company's future even if they're unpopular right now.

• Speed Beats Perfection: Laguarta talks about this all the time—getting things done fast matters more than having the perfect plan. In his mind, a decent decision that gets executed quickly is way better than a perfect decision that takes forever. He's pushed PepsiCo to move faster at every level, cutting through the endless meetings and analysis paralysis.

• Bring People Along for the Ride: Here's something interesting he's admitted—early in his career, he was too focused on his own success. But as he got older and more experienced, he realized that real leadership is about making other people feel like they're the ones making the difference. It's about lifting others up, giving them room to take risks, and sharing the wins instead of hogging all the credit.

• Play the Long Game: The CEO of PepsiCo is pretty passionate about building stuff that'll last long after he's gone. He talks openly about wanting PepsiCo to still be crushing it 10 or 15 years from now, when he's not even around anymore. That means protecting long-term investments even when they cost money upfront, and sticking with your vision even when short-term results look shaky.

• Sustainability Is Good Business: Under Laguarta, PepsiCo launched this whole "pep+" transformation thing, putting sustainability at the center of everything. He's convinced that operating responsibly and making a positive impact isn't just about being nice—it's actually smart business. Companies that ignore this stuff are going to have a hard time attracting talent, customers, and investors going forward.

• Diversity Actually Matters: After the 2020 protests, Laguarta didn't just post some statement on social media and call it a day. He actually met with Black community members and employees, listened to what they had to say, and then did something about it. He announced concrete goals: grow the number of Black managers by 30% over five years, recruit more from historically Black colleges, mandate bias training for everyone, and invest $50 million in Black-owned businesses. For him, diversity isn't about checking boxes—it's about building better companies through different perspectives.

• Be Human: In one of his writings, Laguarta talked about stuff that sounds basic but gets forgotten in corporate life: treat people with kindness, be sincere and respectful, build a reputation as someone trustworthy, and don't take yourself too seriously. Knowing when to laugh, especially at yourself, can make the difference between a team that's stressed out and a team that's actually working well together.

• Make Others Better: Laguarta thinks the best compliment you can get is when someone says "This person makes everyone around them better." As a leader, he sees his job as being curious, confident, and decisive, while creating space for people to push boundaries even when it makes him uncomfortable.

Ramon Laguarta's journey from working at a Spanish candy company to running one of the world's biggest food and beverage corporations with a net worth over $100 million shows that getting to the top isn't just about being ambitious or smart. You need strategic thinking, the ability to understand different cultures, the guts to execute quickly, and a real commitment to building something bigger than yourself. His career proves that climbing the corporate ladder isn't just about racing past everyone else—it's about bringing people with you and creating value that lasts way beyond your own time at the company.