Susan Wojcicki, the former CEO of YouTube and one of the first employees of Google, has died at the age of 56 after a two-year battle with cancer.
One of the most prominent women in tech, Wojcicki stepped down from her role at YouTube in 2023, a position she held for nine years.
Susan Wojcicki, the former CEO of YouTube and one of the first employees of Google, has died at the age of 56 after a two-year battle with cancer.
Her husband, Dennis Troper, announced the news on Facebook, saying: "It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki passing. 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."
Wojcicki and Troper married in 1998 and share five children. In February, Wojcicki’s 19 year old son Marco Troper was found dead inside a University of California, Berkeley dorm room.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai paid tribute to Wojcicki on X (formerly Twitter), saying: “Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend Susan Wojcicki 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.”
One of the most prominent women in tech, Wojcicki stepped down from her role at YouTube in 2023, a position she held for nine years. She said she wanted to “start a new chapter focused on my family, health and personal projects I’m passionate about”.
“It would be one of the best decisions of my life,” Wojcicki wrote when she announced her departure.
She became CEO of YouTube in 2014. Before Google, Wojcicki worked at Intel and Bain & Company.