Former chief of YouTube and a key figure in Google’s ascent Susan Wojcicki has passed away at the age of 56 after a two-year battle with lung cancer, as announced by her husband on Friday.
Wojcicki, recognized as one of the leading women in Silicon Valley, dedicated nearly twenty years to evolving Google from a garage-based search engine startup into a dominant global technology powerhouse.
She led YouTube’s operations for almost ten years following its acquisition by Google in 2006, before resigning last year to prioritize her family, health, and personal endeavors. Her husband, Dennis Troper, shared on Facebook that she had been fighting lung cancer for the past two years.
“My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today,” he wrote.
“Susan was not just my best friend and partner in life, but a brilliant mind, a loving mother, and a dear friend to many. Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable.”
Wojcicki was employed at Intel when her friends Sergey Brin and Larry Page established their operations in the garage of her Menlo Park, California residence in 1998.
The following year, she became the 16th employee and the inaugural marketing manager of the company. During her tenure at Google, she contributed to the development of image search and was involved in the acquisitions of YouTube and the advertising platform DoubleClick.
“She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her,” Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, wrote on social media platform X.
“She was an incredible person, leader and friend who had a tremendous impact on the world and I’m one of countless Googlers who is better for knowing her. We will miss her dearly.”
Wojcicki was named the CEO of YouTube in 2014. She introduced new forms of ads and helped steer its growth by launching a streaming television service as viewers increasingly turned to the internet for shows and films.
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