Susan Wojcicki, the former CEO of YouTube and one of the first employees at Google after it was founded in 1998, has died. She was 56.
Her husband, Dennis Troper, announced on Facebook Friday night that Wojcicki died after a two-year battle with non-small cell lung cancer. “It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki passing,” he wrote. “My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after 2 years of living with non-small cell lung cancer.”
Troper continued in his post, “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. We are heartbroken, but grateful for the time we had with her. Please keep our family in your thoughts as we navigate this difficult time.”
Wojcicki revealed in February 2023 that she was stepping down from her role at YouTube after nine years leading the Google-owned company. At the time, she shared in a note to staff that she was leaving to “start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about.”
The former executive was the 16th person to be hired at Google, initially joining the company in 1999 — after it was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin the year prior — to build out its ad business and analytics products. She then transitioned into the YouTube CEO role after Google acquired the video platform in 2014.
Under Wojcicki’s leadership, YouTube grew into one of the leading social and video platforms for digital creators, allowing them to monetize their content through the company’s YouTube Partner Program. YouTube also launched its own short-form video offering, Shorts, to compete with TikTok.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, paid tribute to Wojcicki on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend @SusanWojcicki 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. 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. Our thoughts with her family. RIP Susan.”
Born on July 5, 1968, in Santa Clara, California, Wojcicki was raised by her father, Stanley Wojcicki (died in May 2023), who worked as a physics professor at Stanford University, and her mother, Esther Wojcicki, who was a teacher and journalist.
She later spent the majority of the ’90s continuing her education, studying history and literature at Harvard University (A.B., 1990), economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz (M.S., 1993) and business at the University of California, Los Angeles (M.B.A., 1998).
Before joining the team at Google, she had previously been employed by Intel Corporation, Bain & Co., and R.B. Webber & Co.
In addition to Troper and Esther, Wojcicki is survived by her five children.