Susan Wojcicki, the former CEO of YouTube and a long-time Google executive, passed away on Saturday at the age of 56 after a two-year battle with lung cancer.
In a Facebook post, her husband, Dennis Troper, shared the news with deep sorrow, stating, “It is with profound sadness that I announce Susan’s passing.
My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after a courageous two-year fight with non-small cell lung cancer.”
Google CEO Sundar Pichai also paid tribute, noting in a blog post, “Despite facing significant personal challenges, Susan remained dedicated to improving the world through her philanthropy, including supporting research into the disease that ultimately took her life.”
Wojcicki was a pioneering figure in technology, joining Google in 1999 as one of its earliest employees, well before the company acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion.
Before becoming YouTube’s CEO in 2014, she served as Google’s Senior Vice President for ad products.
After nine years leading YouTube, Wojcicki stepped down in 2023 to focus on family, health, and personal projects, with Neal Mohan, her deputy, taking over her role.
Wojcicki had planned to transition to an advisory role at Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
Reflecting on her career, Wojcicki wrote in a blog post on her departure from YouTube, “Twenty-five years ago, I decided to join a new search engine created by Stanford graduates named Larry and Sergey.
It was one of the best decisions of my life.”
Neal Mohan, her successor, remembered her as a “teammate, mentor, and friend” in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
