Just In: Former YouTube CEO dies at 56

Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube from 2014 to 2023 and one of the first employees of Google when it was created in 1998, passed away, according to her husband, following a fight with cancer. She was aged 56. Her husband, Dennis Troper, released a statement late on Friday night, saying, "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." In addition to being my lifelong best friend and companion, Susan was also a bright thinker, a devoted mother, and a close friend to many, according to Troper. Her influence on the globe, as well as our family, was immense. Although we are devastated, we are happy that we spent time with her.

In September 1998, the month that Google was established, Wojcicki started working there after co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin set up shop in Wojcicki's garage. Before committing her attention to YouTube, where she became CEO in February 2014, she worked on a number of Google products.

"I decided to work with a few Stanford graduate students who were developing a new search engine twenty-five years ago." In her resignation letter from the previous year, Wojcicki stated, "They went by the names of Larry and Sergey." "Even though the company had very few users and no revenue, I made the decision to join the team because I could see the potential of what they were building, which was extremely exciting." That would rank among my greatest choices ever.

In order to begin a "new chapter" centered on her family, health, and personal endeavors, Wojcicki announced she made the decision to step down as CEO. She said last month that she would be joining the board of Planet Labs, a satellite company supported by Alphabet's Google.