Silicon Valley Pioneer and Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Dies at 56 — Here's How She Transformed the Tech Industry Wojcicki was Google's 16th employee.
By Emily Rella Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Former Google SVP and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki died from non-small cell lung cancer at 56 years old.
- She was Google's 16th employee.
- Many tech leaders shared condolences on social media.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki died from non-small cell lung cancer lung cancer, her husband, Dennis Troper, confirmed on Facebook on Saturday. She was 56 years old.
"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 2 years of living with non-small cell lung cancer," Troper wrote, calling his late wife a "brilliant mind" and "loving mother" to their children.
"Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable. We are heartbroken but grateful for the time we had with her," the post read.
Related: YouTube's Former CEO Susan Wojcicki Gets Her Own Barbie Doll
Wojcicki's impact on Silicon Valley
Wojcicki graduated from Harvard University in 1990 with a Bachelor's degree before earning a Master's in Economics from the University of California-Santa Cruz. She also earned an MBA in 1998 from the University of California-Los Angeles, per her LinkedIn.
In 1998, Wojcicki rented out her garage in Menlo Park, California, to aspiring 25-year-old tech entrepreneurs, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The two were famously working on a search engine that would later become known as Google.
Former CEO of YouTube Susan Wojcicki (Mateusz Wlodarczyk/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
After Google's co-founders moved into a formal office, the duo offered Wojcicki a job at the company as a marketing manager in 1999. She was Google's 16th employee.
Wojcicki worked in various positions at the company, including SVP of AdWords and AdSense from 2011 to 2014. In 2006, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion, and in 2014, Wojcicki made the jump over to the video platform where she served as CEO until she stepped down last year.
Tech leaders shared condolences on social media with many noting the impact Wojcicki had on the industry and their careers, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
"Her loss is devastating for all of us who know and love her, for the thousands of Googlers she led over the years, and for millions of people all over the world who looked up to her, benefited from her advocacy and leadership, and felt the impact of the incredible things she created at Google, YouTube, and beyond," Pichai penned in an internal memo to employees.
Former Google employee and longtime Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg credited Wojcicki in a note on Facebook for blazing a trail for other women in the tech world.
"She taught me the business and helped me navigate a growing, fairly chaotic organization at the beginning of my career in tech," Sandberg wrote. "She was the person I turned to for advice over and over again. And she was this person for so many others too."
Related: 'The Adventure of a Lifetime': YouTube CEO Emotionally Steps Down After 25 Years
She is revered by many as a pioneer for women in Silicon Valley.
