MCCA MGC 500 COMPANIES BY INDUSTRY


Electronics, Offi ce Equipment, Software (A)


Insurance (B)


Energy, Gas, Petroleum Refi ning, Pipelines, Etc. (C)


Food & Drug Stores (D)


General Merchandisers, Speciality Retailers, Wholesalers: Diversifi ed, etc. (E)


Financial Services: Diversifi ed Financials, Securities, Banks (F)


Transportation & Logistics (G) Telecommunications (H)


Pharmaceuticals, Medical Products & Equipment, Healthcare (I)


Food Services, Consumer Food Products (J)


Motor Vehicles (K)


Industrial & Farm Equipment (L) Airlines (M)


% # 15.2 7


4.3 2 10.8 5


2.2 1 13 6


2.2 1


2.2 1 00 13 6


15.2 7


2.2 1 8.7 4 2.2 1


Real Estate, Hotels & Casinos (N) 0 0 Chemicals (O)


2.2 1


Forest & Paper Products (P) 00 Publishing, Printing (Q)


00


Scientifi c, Photo Control Equipment (R) 2.2 1 Railroads (S)


Mail, Packaging, Freight (T) Other (Z) Total


00 2.2 1 2.2 1 100 46


AS PEPSICO’S EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, GENERAL COUNSEL, AND CORPORATE SECRETARY, LARRY THOMPSON is responsible for the multi-billion dollar corporation’s worldwide legal and com- pliance functions and its government affairs and public policy organization. He also oversees the PepsiCo Foundation, the company’s philanthropic arm, which he describes as an especially rewarding part of his job. At PepsiCo, Thompson oversees


a team of approximately 200 lawyers worldwide. “There are a lot of moving parts to our business. We’re a global food and beverage company, and there is a wide range of issues that we have to deal with at any given moment. The policy and regulatory landscapes are constantly evolving, and there can be a lot of unpredictability. That makes it both fun and challenging at the same time.” A huge global company like


27.1% 52.1% African American


Asian American/ Pacifi c Islander


COMPANIES BY RACE/ ETHNICITY


MGC 500 MCCA


PepsiCo, which operates in more than 200 countries and territories and whose portfolio includes 22 brands that each generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales, must comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations worldwide. “It’s important to understand how government func- tions and reaches decisions. Lawyers need to know how laws intersect with public policy and government affairs. That knowledge allows us to give bet- ter advice.” Early in his career, Thompson


20.8% Hispanic MCCA.COM


was a senior associate litigating cases for King & Spaulding in Atlanta when his mentor, Judge Griffi n Bell, attorney general during the Carter


Larry D. Thompson


EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, GENERAL COUNSEL & CORPORATE SECRETARY


PEPSICO PURCHASE, NY


administration, encouraged him to get into public service. “I was up for part- ner, but Judge Bell persuaded me to take my fi rst pay cut, assuring me that public service would make me a better lawyer. And he was right.” Thompson left the fi rm and served four years as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. He then returned to the fi rm, made partner in 1986, and left again in 2001 to serve as deputy attorney gen- eral in the Bush administration during which he oversaw prosecutions against offi cials at Enron. Following the widespread and high-


profi le corporate accounting scandals of 2002, companies began looking for lawyers with government experience to promote compliance with new regula- tory requirements. Executive recruiters began calling Thompson for general counsel jobs. He met with PepsiCo leadership–including then-President and CFO Indra Nooyi, who is now PepsiCo’s Chairman and Chief Executive Offi cer–at the company’s headquarters in Purchase, NY. It was this series of meetings that convinced him to join PepsiCo and make the move in-house: “In three separate interviews with different people, I was asked if I would be willing to tell them ‘no’ if something came to my attention that shouldn’t be done. To me that was impressive. It was clear to me that I’d be joining a company with a strong sense of corporate ethics, integrity, and character.” Thompson is happy where he


landed.“Typically I arrived at various career decisions by doing what interested me and what made me a better lawyer.”


SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 DIVERSITY & THE BAR®


33


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52