Steven S. Reinemund ’70 was born in New York on 6 April 1948. As a midshipman at the Naval Academy, he rowed crew and served as company commander.
Mr. Reinemund served five years with the Marine Corps. His final service assignment with Marine Barracks Washington, DC, included duty at the White House during the Nixon and Ford administrations.
After leaving the Marines, Mr. Reinemund earned an MBA from the University of Virginia and began a corporate career with the restaurant division of Marriott Corp. Then he joined PepsiCo’s Pizza Hut division and was named CEO IN 1986. Under his leadership, Pizza Hut entered the delivery market and within two years the company surpassed Domino’s as the number one pizza delivery business in America.
After eight years at Pizza Hut, Mr. Reinemund was named CEO of Frito-Lay. During his tenure, sales and profits rose steadily and market share increased from 34 percent to 60 percent between 1993 and 1997. Mr. Reinemund introduced healthy snacks and led the movement to remove trans fats from all products. While at Frito-Lay Mr. Reinemund was chairman of the Salvation Army National Advisory Board and established the National Kettle Campaign with the Dallas Cowboys.
Mr. Reinemund was promoted to chief operating officer of PepsiCo in 1999 and CEO/Chairman in 2001.Under his tenure as CEO, PepsiCo acquired Quaker oats, including Gatorade; revenues grew by $9 billion; net income by 70 percent; market capitalization topped $100 billion and the annual dividend doubled. Among Mr. Reinemund’s goals was to increase diversity and inclusion in the company; PepsiCo subsequently became one of the leading companies recognized for diversity.
He points to his family, his community and the Academy for forging the values of integrity and truthfulness that have shaped his path.
“I appreciated those lessons more and more as I grew up. It was something I wanted to see and ensure that my sons and their children saw and learned from. I strove to show integrity and truthfulness with my associates so that I could teach the lessons when I could. These lessons were amplified by the Academy experience.”
Mr. Reinemund currently serves as a board member for ExxonMobil, Marriott, WalMart, Chick-fil-A, Wake Forest, the Center for Creative Leadership and the Naval Academy Foundation. He and his wife of 43 years, Gail, are members of the Naval Academy Foundation’s Superintendent’s Society.
The Reinemunds live in Denver, Co, and are the parents of four adult children, including Second Lieutenant Kevin Reinemund ’17, USMC.
Updated: December 26, 2025
Curator: Ed Moore