PepsiCo appoints Tony West EVP, government affairs

PepsiCo has appointed Tony West EVP of government affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective Nov. 24. He succeeds Larry Thompson, who is retiring after almost a decade of service.



West joins PepsiCo from the United States Department of Justice, where he served as Associate Attorney General of the United States, the agency's third-ranking official. In his new role, West will be responsible for PepsiCo's worldwide legal function and government affairs organization, as well as the company's global compliance function and the PepsiCo Foundation. He will report to PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi.



"Tony is a tremendous addition to the PepsiCo management team," said Nooyi. "He is a world-class leader who brings a strong set of skills, experiences and values to PepsiCo. We will benefit greatly from Tony's leadership and expertise."



"PepsiCo is an iconic American company with an exceptional CEO, a dynamic global presence, and a strong reputation for responsible corporate citizenship," West said. "I am thrilled to be joining Indra's executive team and honored to succeed Larry Thompson."



"Larry has made a lasting impact on PepsiCo and contributed greatly to our success over the years," Nooyi added. "His deep knowledge of the legal and regulatory environment, his unwavering sense of ethics and integrity, and his burning passion for our business made Larry one of the very best in his field. He has been a trusted advisor to me and our board of directors and we will be forever thankful for everything he has done to make PepsiCo one of the world's most admired companies. We wish Larry and his family the very best in retirement. I will miss him."



West has more than 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors. As Associate Attorney General, he led the Justice Department's efforts to protect Americans' civil rights; assist homeowners who suffered losses during the 2008 financial crisis; strengthen the federal relationship with sovereign Native American nations; and secure access to criminal and civil legal aid regardless of income.



West previously served as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, the Justice Department's largest litigating component, where he oversaw the work of approximately 1,000 lawyers. In this role, he bolstered the division's enforcement efforts to recover taxpayer money lost to fraud and abuse. He also emphasized the division's responsibility to bring civil and criminal actions to enforce the nation's consumer protection laws.



Earlier in his career, West was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of California, where he prosecuted a variety of federal crimes. He also spent time as a state Special Assistant Attorney General in California and was a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco.



West graduated with honors from Harvard College, where he served as publisher of the Harvard Political Review, and received his law degree from Stanford Law School, where he was elected president of the Stanford Law Review.



Thompson served as PepsiCo's EVP of government affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary since June 2012. It marked his second stint with the company after serving as PepsiCo's SVP of government affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary from 2004 to 2011. Thompson retired from PepsiCo briefly in 2011 to become the John A. Sibley chair in corporate and business law at the University of Georgia School of Law.



Thompson has enjoyed a distinguished career spanning the public and private sectors. He was a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., prior to joining PepsiCo in 2004. He served in the U.S. Department of Justice as Deputy Attorney General and led the Department's National Security Coordination Council. Thompson also was appointed by George W. Bush to lead the Corporate Fraud Task Force. Earlier in his career, Thompson was a partner in the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding and also served as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta.