Susan Wojcicki, former CEO of YouTube and one of the most influential people in the early days Google The employee died at the age of 56, according to a post shared online Friday night by her husband, Dennis Troper, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
Wojcicki has led YouTube for nearly a decade and is one of the only women to hold the CEO position at a major Silicon Valley technology company.
Wojcicki’s husband, Dennis Troper, wrote on Facebook late Friday: “It is with deep sadness that I share the news of the passing of Susan Wojcicki. My beloved wife and our five The mother of two children left us today after two years of living with a non-family member.
Pichai confirmed his death and cancer status in a social media post on Friday, writing that he was “incredibly saddened” by the loss.
In a letter sent to employees, Pichai described Wojcicki as “one of the most active and energetic people I have ever met. Her death is a profound reminder to all of us who knew and loved her and her many years of It’s devastating for the thousands of Googlers who came to lead it, and for the millions of people around the world who respected her, benefited from her advocacy and leadership, and felt her influence at Google, YouTube The impact of the incredible things being created in other fields.
“Susan’s journey, from the garage she rented to Larry and Sergey… to leading teams in consumer products and building our advertising business… to becoming the CEO of one of the most important platforms in the world, YouTube, is from every angle. Both are inspiring. Fake initiatives set new standards for people in underserved communities.
Wojcicki, 56, joined YouTube in 2014 as chief executive.
She helped grow Google from its early days into a tech giant and is credited with developing some of its most successful products.
After Google was founded, she let Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin work at her home in Menlo Park, California. Page and Brin rented the garage from her for $1,700 per month. Wojcicki was working in Intel’s marketing department at the time.
Wojcicki joined Google in 1999 as the company’s 16th employee and spent the next 14 years overseeing the design and implementation of Google’s advertising and analytics products. She played a vital role in growing Google’s advertising business, including co-creating one of the company’s most successful products, AdSense.
In 2006, she advocated for Google to acquire YouTube for $1.65 billion.
“The founders probably believed in Susan more than anyone else on the planet,” Google’s early sales director Patrick Keane wrote in the 2022 book Likes, Comments, Subscribe: YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination “Inside” said in the book. “No matter how challenging the situation was, there was no way you could have upset Susan.”
“When people couldn’t make him see sense, she always did,” Kim Scott, a former Google director and early Silicon Valley influencer, calls “Larry the Whisperer” in her book, referring to the Google co-founder Larry Page.
During Wojcicki’s tenure as YouTube CEO, she oversaw the company’s rapid expansion, helping it become the world’s largest video platform. According to the company, YouTube currently has more than 2.5 billion monthly active users, and more than 500 hours of content is uploaded to the platform every minute.
News of her death Friday night prompted an outpouring of condolences from many tech and venture capital leaders.
“I had the pleasure of meeting Susan 17 years ago when she was the architect of the DoubleClick acquisition,” current YouTube CEO Neal Mohan wrote in a social media post Friday night. “Hers The legacy continues in everything she does at Google and YouTube.”
Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s former chief operating officer, said in a social media post: “Early in my tech career, she taught me business knowledge and helped me navigate a growing and quite chaotic organization.” One of the key female leaders—the first to lead a major company—she is committed to expanding opportunities for women throughout Silicon Valley. I don’t believe my career would have been possible without her unwavering support. This is what it looks like today.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of my dear colleague and friend @SusanWojcicki,” Google chief scientist Jeff Dean wrote on social media Friday night. “She had a profound impact on everyone at Google, It affected a lot of people’s lives.”
