PepsiCo’s Global Chief Quits 4 Months After Taking Job

PepsiCo Inc.’s head of worldwide beverages, Christopher Sinclair, resigned after less than four months on the job, citing the increased pressure and travel.

Sinclair, 45, headed the cola, snacks and restaurant company’s international food and drinks division until his March elevation to chief executive of the global soda business, which has $11 billion in annual sales.

“The intensity of the challenge and the frequency of the travel, coupled with the recent broadening of my responsibilities, have exacted a price, not only on me but on my family,” Sinclair wrote to employees.

Sinclair was replaced by Craig Weatherup, the 50-year-old longtime head of U.S. beverages who was recently named president of the parent company, based in Purchase, N.Y. Pepsi has no immediate plans to fill that spot, spokesman Richard Detwiler said.

While Sinclair and the company stressed a personal motivation to step down as an officer and director, signs of outward pressure are hard to miss.

Today, Pepsi took management control of major Pepsi bottler Buenos Aires Embotelladora, the troubled Argentine company, and predicted losses there for the rest of the year. The bottler is 24%-owned by PepsiCo.

And archrival Coca-Cola Co. passed Pepsi in overall share of the take-home market in the first quarter, the first time that’s happened in years.

Detwiler said neither of those problems was connected to the departure of the fast-rising Sinclair.

Before the announcement, Pepsi shares slipped 25 cents to close at $35.375.