Prominent business executive Susan Wojcicki, who served as YouTube’s CEO for nine years and played a crucial role in Google’s success, died at 56 years old Friday, according to her family.
She had been living with non-small cell lung cancer for the past two years.
“It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki passing,” Wojcicki’s husband Dennis Troper said on Facebook . “Susan was not just my best friend and partner in life, but 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.”
Wojcicki had close ties with Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and was one of there first employees.
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She rented her small Menlo Park home’s garage to Page and Brin in Sept. 1998, the same month the internet giant was incorporated, according to CNBC.
In 2006, while overseeing Google’s Google Video services, Wojcicki recommended the tech giant acquire YouTube, which was eventually bought for $1.65 billion.
Wojcicki was appointed CEO of YouTube in 2014 and named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people the following year.
Wojcicki resigned from her position at YouTube — after 25 years with the parent company Alphabet/Google — in Feb. 2023 to “start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects.”
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Wojcicki and Troper married in 1998 and share five children.
In February, Wojcicki’s son Marco Troper was found dead inside a University of California, Berkeley dorm room.
The 19-year-old succumbed to a combination of high amounts of alprazolam – an anti-anxiety drug sometimes sold as Xanax – as well as cocaine, amphetamine, and the antihistamine hydroxyzine, SFGATE reported .
Low levels of THC were also in his system, the outlet added, citing the coroner’s report from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
The levels of alprazolam and cocaine found in Troper’s blood were high enough to result in death, the officials said.
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai remembered Wojcicki as an “incredible leader” who played a crucial role in the company’s success.
“Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend (Susan Wojcicki) after two years of living with cancer,” Pichai said in a statement on X. “She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her.
“She was an incredible person, leader and friend who had a tremendous impact on the world and I’m one of countless Googlers who is better for knowing her. We will miss her dearly.”
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan honored his predecessor early Saturday morning.
“Today we @youtube lost a teammate, mentor, and friend, @SusanWojcicki. I had the good fortune of meeting Susan 17 years ago when she was the architect of the DoubleClick acquisition. Her legacy lives on in everything she touched @google and @youtube,” Mohan said.
“I am forever grateful for her friendship and guidance. I will miss her tremendously. My heart goes out to her family and loved ones.”
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