REST IN PEACE: The tech world is mourning the loss of Susan Wojcicki, a key figure who helped make Google the giant it is today. Wojcicki died at the age of 56 after a two-year battle with lung cancer.
Although she’s not a household name outside Silicon Valley circles – she rarely sought the spotlight – Wojcicki’s influence can be seen in many of Google’s key products and initiatives from the beginning. She was employee number 16 at the fledgling search engine company, and her early marketing efforts, such as embedding the Google search box on websites, helped put the company on the map.
Wojcicki has held many different roles at Google over the years. She led the development of the AdSense program, which allowed the company to place ads on millions of websites. She spearheaded major acquisitions such as YouTube in 2006 and DoubleClick in 2007, which gave Google’s ad business a huge boost.
Of course, her greatest legacy is probably YouTube itself. Wojcicki pushed hard for Google to buy the video site when it was still a small company. After getting the green light, she took over as CEO of YouTube in 2014 with a mission to “reinvent television.”
Under her leadership, YouTube’s advertising revenues soared into the billions, she expanded the business model to include new subscription offerings, and simultaneously grappled with the endless content moderation challenges that come with running the internet’s largest video platform.
“She is as central to Google’s story as any, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote on Twitter/X.
Incredibly sad about the loss of my dear friend @SusanWojcicki after two years with cancer. She is as central to Google’s story as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her. She was an incredible person, leader and friend who made a tremendous…
– Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) 10 August 2024
“My beloved wife of 26 years and mother of our five children left us today,” her husband Dennis Troper wrote in a heartfelt Facebook post. “Susan was not only my best friend and life partner, but a brilliant mind, a loving mother and a dear friend to many. Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable.”
Wojcicki grew up on Stanford’s campus before studying history and literature at Harvard. She later earned MBAs from UC Santa Cruz and UCLA. Her involvement with Google began in 1998, when she rented part of her Menlo Park home to Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who were just starting the company.
Despite her immense professional success, Wojcicki maintained her humble and down-to-earth image and was known for raising chickens and driving her children around in a minivan.
Wojcicki stepped down from her role as YouTube CEO in 2023 to focus on her family and health, but remained as an advisor to Alphabet. She leaves behind her husband and four children. Tragically, her eldest son Marco died earlier this year at just 19 years old.
