Founder Profile
Donald M. Kendall
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Donald M. Kendall?
Donald M. Kendall is a founder of PepsiCo, Inc., which was founded in 1965 with Caleb Bradham and Herman W. Lay.
- Company founded
- PepsiCo, Inc.
- Founded
- 1965
- Co-founders
- Caleb Bradham and Herman W. Lay
Background
World War II Navy pilot who rose through Pepsi-Cola's sales organization to become its CEO in 1963.
Founding Story
Donald M. Kendall led Pepsi-Cola and engineered its 1965 merger with Frito-Lay to form PepsiCo, which he ran as CEO until 1986. He famously handed Nikita Khrushchev a Pepsi at the 1959 Moscow exhibition and in 1972 negotiated Pepsi's entry into the Soviet Union.