Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki dies at 56

Tragedy has struck again for a famous Silicon Valley family. Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has just died, based on social media posts from her husband, Dennis Troper, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. She was 56.

Troper wrote on Facebook on Friday evening: “It is with deep sadness that I share the news Susan Wojcicki My beloved wife of 26 years and mother of our five children passed away today after 2 years of living with non-small cell lung cancer.”

“Susan was not only my best friend and partner in life, but also 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.”

Pichai also sent a memo to Google employees on Friday evening.

“By now, you may have heard the news that Susan Wojcicki has died after two years of living with lung cancer. Even as I write this, it seems impossible that it is true. Susan was one of the most active and vibrant people I have ever met,” the note reads.

Non-small cell lung cancer is one among the 2 predominant kinds of lung cancer and probably the most common type, based on the Yale School of Medicine. Because its symptoms are sometimes confused with common diseases, 80 percent of individuals diagnosed with the disease have already progressed to advanced stages, based on a fact sheet affiliated with the university.

Wojcicki’s passing comes on the heels of one other devastating loss for Wojcicki and her husband in February of this yr. Their 19-year-old son, Marco Troper, died of an accidental overdose in his dorm room at UC Berkeley, where he was a freshman.

Wojcicki rose to fame as YouTube’s CEO, a task she held for nine years before stepping down in early 2023. At the time, she wrote in a blog post that she had “decided to start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects that I’m passionate about.”

Wojcicki was among the many first 20 employees at Google, which acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion—a staggering sum at the time. She famously got involved with the corporate after renting a garage within the Menlo Park, Calif., home of friends Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who were then graduate students at Stanford University. (Google was restructured in 2015, at which point Alphabet became its parent company.)

According to reports in recent times, after witnessing YouTube’s early popularity, Wojcicki herself — then a marketing manager at Google — proposed to Page and Brin that Google buy the video-streaming platform.

Under her leadership, YouTube became a multibillion-dollar money generator for Google. In 2023, YouTube reported $8.1 billion in ad revenue—nearly 10% of Alphabet’s total revenue.

The Wojcicki family has deep ties to Silicon Valley and the broader Bay Area. One of her sisters is 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki. Another sister, Janet, is a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. Their mother, Esther Wojcicki, is a renowned educator who has written extensively on the best way to raise successful children.

Here is the complete text of the memo Pichai sent to Google employees:

Googlers,

By now, you might have heard the news that Susan Wojcicki has died after two years with lung cancer. Even as I write this, it seems not possible that it’s true. Susan was one of the lively and vibrant people I even have ever met. Her loss is devastating for all of us who knew and loved her, for the 1000’s of Googlers she led through the years, and for the tens of millions of individuals around the globe who admired her, benefited from her advocacy and leadership, and were impacted by the incredible things she created at Google, on YouTube, and beyond.

Susan’s journey, from renting out her garage to Larry and Sergey… to leading teams in consumer products and constructing our promoting business… to becoming CEO of YouTube, one of the vital platforms on the earth, is inspiring in every way. But she didn’t stop there. As one among the primary employees at Google—and the primary to take maternity leave—Susan used her position to construct a greater workplace for everybody. And within the years since, her advocacy for parental leave has set a brand new standard for corporations around the globe. Susan also had a deep passion for education. She recognized early on that YouTube might be a platform for education for the world and championed “edutubers”—especially those that were expanding the reach of STEM education to underserved communities.

For the past two years, despite facing great personal hardships, Susan has dedicated herself to improving the world through her philanthropic work, including supporting research into the disease that ultimately took her life. I do know this was very meaningful to her, and I’m so glad she took the time to achieve this.

Susan at all times put others first, each in her values ​​and in her each day life. I’ll always remember her kindness to me as a possible “Noogler” 20 years ago. During my interview at Google, she took me out for ice cream and a walk around campus. I used to be sold – by Google and Susan.

I feel so fortunate to have spent so a few years working closely with Susan, as I’m sure lots of you do – she was absolutely loved by her teams here. Her time on earth was far too short, but she made every minute count.

We are in close contact with Susan’s family, including her husband and Google colleague Dennis. We will share more details soon about how we’ll honor her incredible life. In the meantime, let’s honor Susan’s memory by continuing to construct a Google she can be happy with.