Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki dies at 56; Wojcicki was Google's first marketing exec

Susan Wojcicki was battling cancer for two years.

By Storyboard18| Aug 10, 2024 12:03 PM

"Having cancer hasn’t been easy," Wojcicki wrote, "but the most important lesson I have learned is just to focus and enjoy the present."

Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki passed away at age 56. Wojcicki was battling cancer for two years.

Google-parent Alphabet's chief executive Sundar Pichai shared a tribute to Wojcicki in a post on X, on August 10.

"Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend Susan Wojcicki after two years of living with cancer. 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. Our thoughts with her family. RIP Susan," he wrote.

Wojcicki was CEO of Alphabet subsidiary YouTube from 2014 until early 2023. She is also a key part of the iconic big tech company's history. Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page rented Wojcicki's garage in Menlo Park, California and developed Google's search engine there in 1998. The following year Wojcicki was hired as Google's employee number 16 and as the search engine's first marketing executive.

Before Google, Wojcicki worked in tech major Intel's marketing department and as a management consultant at Bain & Company.