Susan Wojcicki, a pivotal figure in the tech industry and former CEO of YouTube, has died following a two-year struggle with non-small cell lung cancer. The news was announced by her husband, Dennis Troper, in a heartfelt Facebook post.
- Wojcicki’s career was intrinsically linked to the rise of Google, now Alphabet Inc. In 1998, she rented out her garage to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, providing the nascent company with its first office space. She joined Google as its 16th employee and first marketing executive in 1999, marking the beginning of a 25-year tenure with the company.
- During her time at Google, Wojcicki played a crucial role in developing key advertising and analytics products, including AdWords, AdSense, DoubleClick, and Google Analytics. She also spearheaded the creation of consumer products such as Google Images and Google Books.
- In 2014, Wojcicki was appointed CEO of YouTube, a position she held until early 2023. Under her leadership, YouTube’s viewer base expanded to 2.5 billion monthly users. She was also instrumental in Google’s acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006.
- Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, paid tribute to Wojcicki on social media platform X, saying, “Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend Susan Wojcicki after two years of living with cancer. She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her.”
- Wojcicki’s passing marks the second tragedy for her family in recent times. Her oldest son, 19-year-old Marco Troper, died earlier this year at the University of California, Berkeley.
- Born into a family of academics and entrepreneurs, Wojcicki is survived by her husband and four children. Her sister, Anne Wojcicki, is the co-founder of personal genomics company 23andMe.
