Susan Wojcicki, Former YouTube CEO and Silicon Valley Visionary, Dies at 56

Susan Wojcicki, a Silicon Valley visionary who helped shape Google and YouTube, died Friday after a two-year battle with non-small cell lung cancer, according to her husband. She was 56.

“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 husband, Dennis Troper, wrote in a Facebook post. “Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable.”

Wojcicki, born in Santa Clara, Calif., grew up on Stanford University’s campus, where her father was a physicist. There, she developed a passion for innovation and making a difference in the world. (Her two younger sisters, Anne and Janet, also went on to become powerhouses in their own respective fields.)

In 1998, Wojcicki rented her garage to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, a pair of Stanford grad students on the cusp of building the search giant Google.

Wojcicki quickly saw the company’s potential and left her job at Intel to become Google’s first marketing manager. In the years to follow, she quickly moved up the ranks, having a hand at growing the platform’s consumer products and building its advertising business.

Later, Wojcicki played a major role in Google’s purchase of YouTube in 2006 when it was just a small startup. She was appointed YouTube’s CEO in 2014 and led its explosive growth over the past decade. She also oversaw the platform as it grappled with hate speech, misinformation and inappropriate content.

In 2023, Wojcicki announced she would step down from her role to ” start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects.”

“I took on each challenge that came my way because it had a mission that benefited so many people’s lives around the world: finding information, telling stories and supporting creators, artists, and small businesses. I’m so proud of everything we’ve achieved. It’s been exhilarating, meaningful, and all-consuming,” she said in a blog post.

Aside from growing two tech behemoths, Wojcicki also devoted herself to improving the workplace for women and parents. At Google, she was the first to take parental leave and continued to advocate for such policies in the workforce.

On Saturday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Wojcicki will be remembered for how she “always put others first.”

“I’ll never forget her kindness to me as a prospective ‘Noogler’ 20 years ago. During my Google interview she took me out for an ice cream and a walk around campus. I was sold – on Google and Susan,” he said in a statement.

Wojcicki was also known for her compelling graduation speech at John Hopkins University in 2014. There, she reflected on her career and the nature of opportunities.

“Rarely are opportunities presented to you in the perfect way, in a nice little box with a yellow bow on top,” she said. “Opportunities, the good ones, they’re messy and confusing and hard to recognize. They’re risky. They challenge you.”