Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who was also an early influence Google employee, has died at the age of 56, according to posts shared online by her husband Dennis Troper and Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Friday night.
Wojicki led YouTube for nearly ten years and was one of the only women to hold the role of CEO at a major technology company in Silicon Valley.
Wojcicki’s husband, Dennis Troper, wrote on Facebook early Friday evening, “It is with deep sadness that I share the news of the passing of Susan Wojcicki. My beloved wife of 26 years and mother of our five children left us today after 2 years. with non-small cell lung cancer.”
Pichai confirmed the death and cancer condition in a social media post on Friday, writing that he was “incredibly saddened” by the loss.
In a note to employees, Pichai described Wojcicki as “one of the most active and vibrant people I’ve ever met. Her loss is devastating to all of us who knew and loved her, to the thousands of Googlers she led over the years.and to the millions of people around the world who sought her out, benefited from her advocacy and leadership, and felt the impact of the incredible things she created at Google, YouTube, and beyond.
“Suzanne’s journey, from the garage she rented to Larry and Sergey … to leading the consumer products team and building our advertising business … to becoming the CEO of YouTube, one of the most important in the world, is inspiring by any measure. But she did As one of Google’s earliest employees — and the first to take maternity leave — Susan used her position to build a better workplace. for everyone and in the years since, her advocacy around parental leave for businesses everywhere, Susan recognized early on that YouTube could be a learning platform for the world and advocated for ‘edutubers’ — especially those who expanded the reach of education STEM in underserved communities.
Wojcicki, 56, joined YouTube as CEO in 2014. She stepped down from her role in February 2023, saying she would continue to work with YouTube teams, train members and meet with creators.
She helped build Google from its early days into a tech titan, and is credited with overseeing some of its most successful products.
She allowed Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to work from her Menlo Park, California home after founding Google. Page and Brin rented the garage space for $1,700 a month from her. Wojcicki was working in the marketing department at Intel at the time.
Joining Google in 1999 as the company’s 16th employee, Wojcicki oversaw the design and construction of Google’s advertising and analytics products for 14 years. She played a crucial role in the development of Google’s advertising business, including co-creating AdSense, one of the company’s most successful products.
In 2006, she championed Google’s then-$1.65 billion purchase of YouTube.
“The founders trust Susan probably more than anyone on the planet,” said Patrick Keane, an early Google sales director, in the 2022 book “Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination.” “You could never make Suzanne flustered, no matter how challenging the moment.”
“When people couldn’t get her to see reason, she always could,” former Google executive and early Silicon Valley labor influencer Kim Scott said in the book as “a Larry whisperer,” referring to the co-founder of Google, Larry Page.
During Wojcicki’s tenure as CEO of YouTube, she oversaw the company’s rapid expansion, helping to transform it into the world’s largest video platform. YouTube now has more than 2.5 billion monthly active users, and more than 500 hours of content are uploaded to the platform every minute, according to the company.
The announcement of her death led to an outpouring of condolences from a wide range of tech and venture capital leaders on Friday night.
“I had the good fortune to meet Susan 17 years ago when she was the architect of the acquisition of DoubleClick,” current YouTube CEO Neal Mohan wrote in a social media post Friday night. “Her legacy lives on in everything she touched at Google and YouTube.”
“She taught me the business and helped me navigate a growing, fairly chaotic organization early in my tech career,” former Meta CEO Sheryl Sandberg said in a social media post. “As one of the most important women leaders in technology — the first to lead a major company — she was dedicated to expanding opportunities for women throughout Silicon Valley. I don’t believe my career would be what it is today. without her unwavering support.”
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of my colleague and dear friend @SusanWojcicki,” Google chief scientist Jeff Dean wrote on social media Friday night. “She has had a profound impact on everyone at Google and has touched many people’s lives.”