NAIROBI, Kenya- Susan Wojcicki, a pivotal figure in the tech industry and former CEO of YouTube, has passed away at the age of 56 after a two-year battle with lung cancer.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet, shared the heartbreaking news on X/Twitter, reflecting on Wojcicki’s immense contributions and describing her as “as core to the history of Google as anyone.”
Wojcicki’s journey with Google is the stuff of Silicon Valley legend. Back in 1998, she rented out her Menlo Park garage to two budding entrepreneurs—Sergey Brin and Larry Page—who were working on a little project called Google. This marked the beginning of her deep connection with the company that would eventually become a tech giant.
Leaving a stable job at Intel, Wojcicki took a leap of faith to join Google as its 16th employee.
Her influence grew rapidly within the company, leading her to take the helm at YouTube in 2014. For nine years, she steered the platform through both its growth and its controversies, before stepping down in 2023 to prioritize her health and family.
Throughout her career, Wojcicki was more than just a leader—she was an advocate for women in the tech industry, a space often criticized for its lack of diversity.
In a 2013 interview with BBC’s Newshour, she lamented the small number of women in tech, noting that only about 20pc of the industry was female. She was deeply concerned about the future pipeline, highlighting the limited number of girls pursuing technical degrees.
Wojcicki’s legacy includes not only her professional achievements but also her efforts to inspire the next generation of women to enter the tech world.
Her passion for encouraging diversity in tech was evident in her public speeches and interviews, where she often spoke about the need for more female representation in the industry.
Wojcicki’s tenure at YouTube wasn’t without its challenges. The platform faced significant criticism, particularly regarding its role in spreading misinformation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, several fact-checking organizations even accused YouTube of being a major conduit for disinformation globally. Despite these hurdles, Wojcicki remained committed to her role until she chose to step down to focus on personal matters.
Her husband, Dennis Troper, shared the news of her passing, expressing profound sadness and noting that she had been his beloved wife for 26 years and the mother of their five children.
Wojcicki’s death marks a significant loss for the tech community, but her impact and the trail she blazed for women in technology will continue to resonate.
