Susan Wojcicki, a former YouTube CEO and a Silicon Valley pioneer, passed away at the age of 56.

• On Friday night, Susan Wojcicki, the former CEO of YouTube, passed away at the age of 56 due to cancer, as her family and former colleagues announced on social media.
• Wojcicki played a crucial role in Google's early development and later became one of the few women to lead a major tech company in Silicon Valley.

On Friday night, it was announced that Susan Wojcicki, the former YouTube CEO and one of the company's most influential early employees, had passed away at the age of 56. This information was shared online by her husband Dennis Troper and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Wojicki, a woman, was the CEO of YouTube for nearly a decade and was one of the few women to hold such a position at a major tech company in Silicon Valley.

On Facebook, Dennis Troper, husband of Susan Wojcicki, announced her passing on Friday night. Wojcicki, a mother of five and wife of 26 years, lost her battle with non-small cell lung cancer after 2 years of living with the disease.

On Friday, Pichai announced the death and cancer diagnosis of someone close to him, expressing his deep sadness on social media.

In a note to employees, Pichai described Wojcicki as "a highly active and lively individual." Her passing was deeply felt by all who knew and loved her, the thousands of Google employees she led, and the millions of people worldwide who were inspired by her advocacy, leadership, and the remarkable achievements she accomplished at Google, YouTube, and beyond.

"Susan's journey, from renting a garage to leading teams across consumer products and building the Ads business, to becoming the CEO of YouTube, one of the world's most significant platforms, is inspiring. However, she didn't stop there. As one of the earliest Googlers and the first to take maternity leave, Susan used her position to build a better workplace for everyone. Her advocacy around parental leave set a new standard for businesses everywhere. Susan was also deeply passionate about education. She realized that YouTube could be a learning platform for the world and championed 'edutubers,' especially those who extended the reach of STEM education to underserved communities."

In 2014, YouTube appointed Wojcicki, 56, as its CEO. She resigned from her position in February 2023, stating that she would continue to collaborate with YouTube teams, mentor members, and engage with creators.

From its inception to its current status as a tech giant, Google was built with her assistance, and she is recognized for guiding some of its most successful products.

Wojcicki, who was working in the marketing department at Intel at the time, allowed Larry Page and Sergey Brin to work out of her Menlo Park, California, home upon founding Google. Page and Brin rented the garage space for $1,700 a month from her.

As the 16th employee of Google in 1999, Wojcicki was responsible for designing and building the company's advertising and analytics products for 14 years. She played a pivotal role in developing Google's advertising business, including co-creating AdSense, one of the company's most successful products.

In 2006, she supported Google's $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube.

"Susan is trusted more by the founders than anyone else on the planet, according to Patrick Keane, an early Google sales director, in the 2022 book "Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube's Chaotic Rise to World Domination." Susan remained calm and unflustered even in the most challenging moments."

Kim Scott, a former Google director and early Silicon Valley workplace influencer, was known as a "Larry whisperer" and could always persuade people to see reason when they couldn't get Larry Page to do so, according to the book.

Under Wojcicki's leadership as YouTube CEO, the company experienced rapid growth and became the largest video platform globally. Currently, YouTube boasts over 2.5 billion monthly active users and over 500 hours of content are uploaded to the platform every minute, as per the company's statistics.

On Friday night, a multitude of tech and venture capital leaders expressed their sympathies through an outpouring of condolences following the announcement of her death.

"Neal Mohan, the current YouTube CEO, wrote on social media that he was fortunate to meet Susan 17 years ago when she was the architect of the DoubleClick acquisition. Her impact can still be seen at Google and YouTube."

"Sheryl Sandberg, the former COO of Meta, taught me the business and helped me navigate a growing, chaotic organization at the beginning of my career in tech. As one of the most important women leaders in tech, she was committed to expanding opportunities for women throughout Silicon Valley. I believe my career would not be what it is today without her unwavering support."

"Google chief scientist Jeff Dean expressed his deep sadness on social media Friday night over the passing of his colleague and friend, Susan Wojcicki. He wrote that she had a profound impact on everyone at Google and affected the lives of many."