Susan Diane Wojcicki
Susan Diane Wojcicki (July 5, 1968 – August 9, 2024) was widely known as an American business executive who served as CEO of YouTube from 2014 until 2023. Prior to stepping down, her wealth was estimated at around $765 million in 2022.
Wojcicki built a two-decade career in the technology sector. Her involvement with Google began in 1998 when she rented her garage to the Google company’s founders. She became Google’s first marketing manager in 1999 and guided the firm’s online advertising and early video initiatives. Impressed by YouTube’s momentum, she convinced Google leadership to acquire it in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Eventually, she was named CEO of YouTube in 2014 before resigning in February 2023.
Early Life
Born in Santa Clara, California, Wojcicki was the daughter of a Polish physics professor at Stanford University and an American journalist. Her family background includes a grandfather who served as a Polish politician and a grandmother who worked as a librarian at the Library of Congress.
Education
Growing up on Stanford’s campus, she attended Gunn High School in Palo Alto and contributed to the school newspaper. She discovered a passion for technology in college, graduating with honors in history and literature from Harvard University, and later obtained both an MS in economics and an MBA in California.
Early Roles
Prior to joining Google in 1999, Wojcicki worked in marketing at Intel and consulted at Bain & Company as well as R.B. Webber & Company.
As Google’s 16th employee, she opened her garage to the founders and played a key role in viral marketing, developing early logos, doodles, and Google Image Search. In 2003, she managed AdSense and later became senior vice president of Advertising & Google Commerce.
When YouTube began outpacing Google Video, she championed and led Google’s acquisition of YouTube in 2006.
YouTube
In 2014, Wojcicki assumed the role as Youtube CEO. Under her leadership, the platform reached two billion monthly visitors and distributed over $30 billion to creators by 2021. She also launched monetization tools, YouTube Premium, YouTube TV, and introduced YouTube Shorts.
Advocacy
Wojcicki advocated for paid family leave, supported Syrian refugees, and promoted greater inclusion of women in tech, encouraging young girls to study coding.
Personal Life & Death
She married Dennis Troper, a Google product management director, and together they had five children. Wojcicki was vocal about balancing career and motherhood, even discussing the benefits of paid maternity leave. In early 2024, she faced personal tragedy with the loss of her 19-year-old son, and later, on August 9, 2024, she passed away at 56 after battling lung cancer.
Recognition
- Ranked #1 by Vanity Fair’s “New Establishment” in 2019
- Named #1 on Adweek’s Top 50 Executives in 2013
- Achieved #7 on Forbes’s “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” in 2018
- Placed #10 on Fortune’s 2018 “Most Powerful Women”
- Reached #32 on Forbes’s “America’s Self-Made Women” in 2023
- Received a “Free Expression Award” from the Freedom Forum Institute in 2021
