Susan Wojcicki, who served as CEO of YouTube for 9 years and was one in every of Google’s first hires, died on Friday at age 56 after a battle with most cancers, her household introduced.
Wojcicki’s husband, Dennis Troper, introduced her dying in a put up on Friday night on Fb.
“It’s with profound unhappiness that I share the information of Susan Wojcicki passing. My beloved spouse of 26 years and mom to our 5 youngsters left us at this time after 2 years of residing with non-small cell lung most cancers,” Troper wrote within the put up. “Susan was not simply my greatest pal and accomplice in life, however a superb thoughts, a loving mom, and an expensive pal to many. Her affect on our household and the world was immeasurable.”
“We’re heartbroken, however grateful for the time we had along with her. Please preserve our household in your ideas as we navigate this troublesome time,” he added.
Mateusz Wlodarczyk/NurPhoto through Getty Photographs
Wojcicki joined Google in 1999 as the corporate’s sixteenth worker, turning into the search engine’s first advertising and marketing govt. She helped launch Google Video and oversaw the corporate’s 2006 buy of YouTube, a then-fledgling rival video-upload web site, Selection reported.
She was named CEO of YouTube in 2014 and led the video-sharing platform by means of immense development. She stepped down in February 2023 to “begin a brand new chapter centered on my household, well being, and private tasks.”
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan paid tribute to his predecessor in a put up on social media.
“I had the nice fortune of assembly Susan 17 years in the past … I’m endlessly grateful for her friendship and steering,” Mohan wrote partly. “I’m endlessly grateful for her friendship and steering. I’ll miss her tremendously. My coronary heart goes out to her household and family members.”
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, stated in a put up on that he was “unbelievably saddened by the loss” of Wojcicki.
“She is as core to the historical past of Google as anybody, and it is laborious to think about the world with out her.” Pichai wrote. “She was an unimaginable particular person, chief and pal who had an incredible affect on the world and I am one in every of numerous Googlers who is best for figuring out her. We are going to miss her dearly. Our ideas along with her household. RIP Susan.”
Wojcicki was born on July 5, 1989 in Santa Clara, California. Her father, Stanley Wojcicki, was a physics professor at Stanford and her mom, Esther Wojcicki, was a trainer. She attended Harvard College and earned a masters diploma in economics on the College of California, Santa Cruz. She acquired an MBA from the UCLA Anderson College of Administration.
Wojcicki is survived by her husband and 4 youngsters. Her son Marco, 19, died of a drug overdose at UC Berkeley in February.