Good morning. PepsiCo is overhauling its beverage portfolio—refueling curiosity in drinks like Gatorade—and named a brand new finance chief.
On Thursday, the beverage large (No. 45 on the Fortune 500) introduced that Steve Schmitt will be a part of as EVP and CFO efficient Nov. 10. Schmitt, a Walmart veteran, at present serves as EVP and CFO for Walmart U.S., overseeing the finance operate for its multibillion-dollar omnichannel group. Schmitt joins at a attempting time with activist investor Elliott Administration pushing for main change throughout the firm.
Schmitt joined Walmart in 2016, holding management positions throughout e-commerce, membership, and mass companies, and beforehand labored at Yum! Manufacturers and UPS. At PepsiCo, Schmitt succeeds Jamie Caulfield, who will retire subsequent 12 months after greater than 30 years at PepsiCo, however will keep on as an advisor by Could 15.
PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta highlighted Schmitt’s experience in advanced provide chains, adapting to omnichannel shoppers, and delivering operational excellence at scale as “impactful” for PepsiCo’s progress technique, he mentioned in a press release.
PepsiCo introduced its Q3 earnings on Thursday and beat expectations on each income and adjusted revenue. Nevertheless, Schmitt joins the corporate amid rising activist stress. In September, Elliott Administration disclosed a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo, labeling it a “dramatic underperformer” and urging a strategic turnaround to spice up progress and profitability.
Elliott criticized PepsiCo’s North America beverage enterprise for lagging behind friends in progress and margins, and argued that the corporate’s proliferation of manufacturers and SKUs has impaired focus and execution. In response, PepsiCo acknowledged that it values shareholder suggestions, is reviewing Elliott’s views, and stays assured in its present technique round innovation, portfolio transformation, and productiveness.
In a brand new feature article, my Fortune colleague Phil Wahba takes a deep dive into PepsiCo’s beverage overhaul, which features a Gatorade reboot. Ram Krishnan, the CEO of PepsiCo’s U.S. drinks division, has taken the reins of a years-long effort to return Gatorade, the unique bright-colored sugary sports activities drink, to progress.
“The stakes are excessive for PepsiCo. With $29 billion a 12 months in income, North America Drinks is the food-and-beverage large’s single largest division,” Wahba writes.
Gatorade’s revamp consists of new protein-focused merchandise and expanded choices like powdered mixes. Its latest launch, Gatorade Decrease Sugar—which accommodates 75% much less sugar than the unique and no synthetic flavors or sweeteners—will arrive in shops in early 2026.
However Krishnan is going through intense stress to make daring adjustments not simply at Gatorade however throughout the beverage portfolio. “Different strikes by Krishnan embrace the almost $2 billion buy in Could of prebiotic soda Poppi and in late summer season, PepsiCo’s elevated stake in Celsius Holdings, making the model its chief power drink and one common with millennial and Gen Z gym-goers and different energetic individuals,” Wahba writes. (You may learn the entire article and extra about Krishnan’s strategy at PepsiCo here.)
The months forward will reveal whether or not a brand new CFO and a daring beverage play can fulfill traders and spark lasting progress.
Have weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Energy Strikes
Todd Cunfer was appointed EVP and CFO of The Campbell’s Firm (No. 425), efficient Oct. 20. Cunfer succeeds Carrie Anderson, who’s leaving the corporate to pursue new alternatives. Cunfer brings over 25 years of expertise. He joins Campbell’s from Freshpet, the place he served as CFO since 2022. Earlier than that, he was CFO at Merely Good Meals Firm, a dietary meals and snacking merchandise firm. Beforehand, Cunfer spent over 20 years in senior finance roles at The Hershey Firm, together with VP of worldwide finance, VP of world provide chain finance and VP of North America finance.
Each Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Energy Strikes column tracks Fortune 500 firm C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
Extra notable strikes this week:
Anthony Armstrong has been appointed CFO of xAI, Elon Musk’s synthetic intelligence group, the Financial Times reports. Armstrong will change Mike Liberatore, who left the startup this year for OpenAI after three months within the position. Armstrong will reportedly oversee the finance operate for each xAI and the social media platform X. Musk merged X and xAI in March, valuing the mixed group at $113 billion. Previously the top of world know-how mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, Armstrong was a part of the workforce employed by Musk to facilitate the acquisition of X, then generally known as Twitter. Most just lately, Armstrong labored for the Trump administration as a senior adviser to the Workplace of Personnel Administration.
Marshall Witt was appointed senior vice chairman and chief monetary officer of FedEx Freight, efficient Oct. 15. Witt’s appointment completes FedEx Freight’s govt management workforce, becoming a member of the beforehand introduced management roles. FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) is making ready for the separation of FedEx Freight into an unbiased firm. Witt is the previous CFO of TD SYNNEX, a worldwide IT distributor and options supplier. Earlier than that, he spent 15 years at FedEx, primarily throughout the FedEx Freight finance group, the place he most just lately served as senior vice chairman of finance and controller.
Mary Holt was appointed CFO of CompoSecure, Inc. (NYSE: CMPO), a designer and producer of metallic fee playing cards. Holt succeeds Tim Fitzsimmons, who’s retiring. Holt brings greater than three a long time of expertise. Most just lately, she served as SVP of finance operations, utilities and energy SBG at Warren Fairness Companions. Earlier than that, she spent over 17 years at Honeywell, advancing by a sequence of more and more senior roles, together with VP of enterprise evaluation and planning/company finance; CFO of productiveness options and companies; and CFO for company entities and features.
Brent Wahl, CFO of NextDecade Corporation (Nasdaq: NEXT), has resigned from his place, efficient Oct. 20. The corporate has appointed Mike Mott, SVP of enterprise transformation, as interim CFO. Wahl is leaving NextDecade to hitch a digital infrastructure firm, and he has agreed to serve in a guide capability by Dec. 31, 2025. The corporate will provoke a search course of to discover a everlasting successor.
Anthony Coletta was appointed CFO of Sprinklr (NYSE: CXM), a buyer expertise administration platform. Coletta has greater than 20 years of expertise. Most just lately, he served as chief investor relations officer at SAP SE. Earlier than this, Coletta served as CFO for SAP North America.
Gibb Witham was appointed president and CFO of Hack The Box (HTB), a cybersecurity coaching and upskilling platform. Witham brings twenty years of expertise on the intersection of finance, technique, and cybersecurity. He joins HTB from Paladin Capital Group, a cybersecurity-focused funding agency and early investor in HTB.
Large Deal
Grant Thornton has launched the third installment of its Digital Transformation survey, which examines executives’ views on the role of governance and compliance in know-how use and the way these elements assist resilience. Sixty % of executives recognized structured frameworks and specialised instruments designed to handle guidelines, determine dangers, and guarantee compliance with laws as important techniques for making their know-how use safer and extra resilient.
Respondents have been requested to rank the highest priorities for his or her organizations’ know-how enhancements; 57% selected cybersecurity and danger administration as one in all their prime know-how goals. The findings are primarily based on a survey of greater than 550 cross-functional senior executives throughout industries.
Threat assessments are the inspiration of robust resilience, in line with Derek Han, cybersecurity and privateness chief for the agency’s danger advisory observe. The place these processes have been as soon as carried out manually with the assistance of workflow instruments, corporations at the moment are implementing AI to help within the course of. Nevertheless, Han notes the significance of people collaborating with AI.
“If we begin utilizing AI to easily change people to watch, reply to, and mitigate safety dangers, the human basis for cybersecurity may very well be diminished,” Han mentioned in a press release. “It’s necessary to strike a stability between using AI instruments and persevering with to develop the experience and significant considering of the human safety workforce.”
Going deeper
Listed here are 4 Fortune weekend reads:
“Wells Fargo was reeling from scandal. Jamie Dimon protégé Charlie Scharf bet his career on saving the 173-year-old bank” by Shawn Tully
“Exclusive: Coinbase and Mastercard have both held advanced talks to buy stablecoin startup BVNK for around $2 billion” by Ben Weiss and Leo Schwartz
“California’s ‘impossible’ dream of ending fossil fuels isn’t working, and now it’s looking at price spikes and shortages” by Jordan Blum
“You’re 10 times more likely to have a flight delay during the government shutdown, Transportation Secretary says: ‘These controllers are stressed out’” by Sydney Lake
Overheard
“In finance, as in life, the scariest issues occur when the lights exit. Whether or not the principles change or not, what actually issues is what traders demand — and what markets are prepared to tolerate.”
—Richard Torrenzano, CEO of The Torrenzano Group, writes in a Fortune opinion piece titled, “Fewer earnings stories, extra remorse: The excessive value of going quiet.” Torrenzano weighs in on the talk on whether or not public corporations ought to end quarterly earnings and transfer to semiannual disclosures. For almost a decade, he was a member of the New York Inventory Alternate administration and govt committees.
