>> yeah. >> reporter: the genesis tale, at least as told by richard montanez, goes like this: he andtory worker at a frito lay plant in southern california. >> my whole life i was told i was mentally disabled, mentally challenged because i thought different. that kind of stuck with me. a great idea can come from anywhere, any place, anyone. >> reporter: pepsico initially went along with the origin story, at least publicly. after all, this boot-straps kind of tale was pretty good for the brand. that's montanez touting flamin' hot in the blue room at the white house. but pepsico warned him to keep those superlatives in check. >> they would tell me, richard, in your speeches, you need to say it was a team effort. but in reality, it never was. if you want to go ahead and say it was a team effort, i'll give you that. but in my heart, it had nothing to do with a team. >> reporter: he was promoted up the corporate ladder during his career, retiring from frito-lay as a director working on hispanic marketing. but it wasn't an easy trip to the top. >> i remember one director said you'll never

i said i'm richard montanez. i said i work in california.ou run california no, i work in southern california are you the plant director >> no. i work inside. she said who are you i said i'm a ju, that was a fancy word for janitor, janitor utility. i saw mr. enrico's video and i came up with this idea and i think this will work she said hang on, give me a couple of minutes. so i know she was a visionary because she took a few minutes i didn't hear her, but i know she was telling roger, you need to take this phone call. you've got somebody on this -- this is destiny here because when roger got on the phone, he was so excited richard, i hear you've got an idea for me. i'm like yeah. and i began to tell him in just the way that i know. just talking from my heart >> montanez' book is out this week which tells his story, how he eventually rose up the corporate ranks at that oversee sales and promotions however, a few weeks ago the "l.a. times" revealed a year-long investigation in which they spoke to a number of employees who contested montanez' a