Susan Wojcicki, the former YouTube CEO and longtime Google executive, has passed away at the age of 56, according to her husband.
"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 ," Dennis Troper shared in a heartfelt social media post late Friday. He added: "Susan was not just my best friend and partner in life, but a brilliant mind, a loving mother, and a dear friend to many."
Further details surrounding her death were not immediately available. Wojcicki, who played a pivotal role in the inception of Google , stepped down as YouTube's CEO in 2023 after a nine-year tenure that saw the video-sharing platform revolutionize entertainment, culture, and politics.
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In 1998, shortly after Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin turned their search engine into a business, Wojcicki rented out the garage of her Menlo Park, California, home to them for $1,700 a month. In a message shared to the Google blog, CEO of Google and Alphabet Sundar Pichai paid tribute.
"Susan was one of the most active and vibrant people I have ever met," he said. "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.
"Susan’s journey, from the garage she rented to Larry and Sergey … to leading teams across consumer products and building our Ads business … to becoming the CEO of YouTube, one of the world’s most significant platforms, is inspiring by any measure. But 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.
"And in the years that followed, her advocacy around parental leave set a new standard for businesses everywhere. Susan was also deeply passionate about education. She realized early on 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.
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"Over the last two years, even as she dealt with great personal difficulties, Susan devoted herself to making the world better through her philanthropy, including supporting research for the disease that ultimately took her life. I know that was very meaningful to her and I’m so glad she took the time to do it.
"Susan always put others first, both in her values and in the day to day. I’ll never forget her kindness to me as a prospective “Noogler” 20 years ago. During my Google interview she took me out for an ice cream and a walk around campus. I was sold - on Google and Susan. I feel so fortunate to have spent so many years working with Susan closely, as I’m sure many of you do -- she was absolutely loved by her teams here. Her time on earth was far too short, but she made every minute count.
"We’re in close touch with Susan’s family, including her husband and fellow Googler, Dennis. We will share more soon about how we're going to celebrate her incredible life. In the meantime, let’s honor Susan’s memory by continuing to build a Google she would be proud of."
Adding to the family's grief, Wojcicki and Troper's 19-year-old son, Marco Troper, tragically died in February on the UC Berkeley campus where he was a freshman student.
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