Founder Profile
Herman W. Lay
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Herman W. Lay?
Herman W. Lay is a founder of PepsiCo, Inc., which was founded in 1965 with Caleb Bradham and Donald M. Kendall.
- Company founded
- PepsiCo, Inc.
- Founded
- 1965
- Co-founders
- Caleb Bradham and Donald M. Kendall
Background
Started his career as a traveling snack food salesman in the American South.
Founding Story
Herman W. Lay (1909-1982) started his career as a snack food salesman. In 1932, he opened a snack food operation in Nashville, Tennessee, eventually purchasing the manufacturer and renaming it H.W. Lay & Company. In 1961, he orchestrated the merger of his company with the Frito Company to form Frito-Lay. Four years later, Frito-Lay merged with the Pepsi-Cola Company to form PepsiCo, where Lay served as chairman of the board.
Education: Furman University.
Herman Warden Lay was born on March 6, 1909 and died on December 6, 1982. His H.W. Lay Co. gave its name to Lay's potato chips and is now part of Frito-Lay, a PepsiCo subsidiary. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).