Susan Wojcicki, who served as CEO of YouTube for nearly a decade before stepping down last year, has passed away at the age of 56. Her husband, Dennis Troper, shared the sad news on Facebook, revealing that Wojcicki had battled non-small cell lung cancer for two years. “Susan was not only my best friend and life partner, but also a brilliant mind, a loving mother, and a deeply cherished friend to many,” he expressed in his message. “The impact she had on our family and the world is immeasurable.”

In Google’s early days, the company operated out of Wojcicki’s garage, where founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin set up their first office. Wojcicki became Google’s first marketing director, co-created Google Image Search, and was the first product manager for AdSense. She also led Google’s video initiatives and was instrumental in the acquisition of YouTube in 2006, just a year after the video platform was launched.

In 2014, she took on the role of YouTube’s CEO, under whose leadership the platform became an essential part of Google. During the fiscal year 2022, the last year before her resignation, YouTube ads generated $29.24 billion in revenue, representing more than 10 percent of the company’s total earnings. Beyond her work at Google, Wojcicki was a prominent voice on issues such as the gender gap in the tech industry and the plight of refugees. She also advocated for longer parental leave policies, highlighting that they are beneficial for businesses. In a post on X, Alphabet’s current CEO, Sundar Pichai, stated that Wojcicki was “as integral to Google’s story as anyone else” and described her as someone who “left a tremendous mark on the world.”

Nestor Castillo, ForAllTechNews Director