Susan Wojcicki, the former chief executive officer of YouTube and one of the earliest employees at Google, has passed away at the age of 56. Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed her death, attributing it to a two-year battle with lung cancer.
In a statement on X/Twitter, Pichai expressed his deep sorrow, describing Wojcicki as “unbelievably saddened” and noting that she was “as core to the history of Google as anyone.” Wojcicki’s contributions to Google’s formative years were significant, including her role in renting her Menlo Park garage to Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 1998.
Initially working at Intel, Wojcicki was persuaded to join Google, becoming its 16th employee. Over the years, she ascended to lead YouTube, a role she held for nine years until 2023. Wojcicki stepped down to concentrate on her family, health, and personal passions.
A prominent figure in technology, Wojcicki was one of the few women in senior positions within the industry. She advocated for increased female participation in tech, highlighting the gender disparity in the field. In a 2013 interview with BBC’s Newshour, she remarked on the industry’s challenge, saying, “Overall the tech industry has, on average, probably about 20% women and I also look at the pipeline of girls coming out of technical degrees and it is very small.”
During her tenure at YouTube, Wojcicki’s leadership faced scrutiny, particularly regarding the platform’s management of online disinformation. In 2022, several fact-checking organizations accused YouTube of being a major source of misinformation, leading to further controversy.
Wojcicki’s husband, Dennis Troper, announced her death with a poignant message: “My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after two years of living with non-small-cell lung cancer.”
