Tragedy has once more struck a well-known Silicon Valley household. Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki simply handed away, in accordance with social media posts by her husband, Dennis Troper, and by Google CEO Sundar Pichai. She was 56.
Wrote Troper on Fb earlier Friday night time, “It’s with profound disappointment that I share the information of Susan Wojcicki passing. My beloved spouse of 26 years and mom to our 5 youngsters left us in the present day after 2 years of dwelling with non-small cell lung most cancers.”
“Susan was not simply my greatest good friend and associate in life, however an excellent thoughts, a loving mom, and an expensive good friend to many. Her affect on our household and the world was immeasurable. We’re heartbroken, however grateful for the time we had along with her. Please maintain our household in your ideas as we navigate this tough time.”
Pichai additionally despatched a be aware to Google staff late Friday.
“By now you could have heard the information that Susan Wojcicki has handed away after two years of dwelling with lung most cancers. At the same time as I write this it feels unattainable to me that it’s true. Susan was one of the vital lively and vibrant individuals I’ve ever met,” the be aware stated.
Non-small cell lung most cancers is one among two main kinds of lung most cancers and the most typical form, in accordance with the Yale College of Medication. As a result of its signs are sometimes mistaken for widespread diseases, 80 % of individuals recognized with the situation have already progressed to superior phases, in accordance with a reality sheet related to the college.
Wojcicki’s passing comes on the heels of one other heart-breaking loss for Wojcicki and her husband in February of this yr, when their 19-year-old son, Marco Troper, died of an unintended overdose in his dorm room on the College of California, Berkeley, the place he was a freshman.
Wojcicki rose to fame because the CEO of YouTube, a job she held for 9 years earlier than stepping down in early 2023, saying in a weblog submit on the time that she had “determined to begin a brand new chapter targeted on my household, well being and private initiatives I’m enthusiastic about.”
Wojcicki was among the many first 20 staff of Google, which went on to accumulate YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion — what appeared like an astronomical quantity on the time. She famously turned concerned with the corporate after renting the storage of her Menlo Park, Calif., residence to pals Larry Web page and Sergey Brin, who have been Ph.D. college students at Stanford on the time. (Google was restructured in 2015, at which level Alphabet turned its mother or father firm.)
In keeping with experiences through the years, it was after observing the early traction of YouTube that Wojcicki herself — then a advertising supervisor at Google — proposed to Web page and Brin that Google purchase the video streaming platform.
Beneath her management, YouTube turned a multibillion greenback money generator for Google. In 2023, YouTube posted $8.1 billion in income by means of advert gross sales — practically 10% of Alphabet’s complete income.
Wojcicki’s household has deep ties to Silicon Valley and to the Bay Space extra broadly. Considered one of her sisters is 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki. One other sister, Janet, is a professor of pediatrics on the College of California, San Francisco. In the meantime, their mom Esther Wojcicki, is a famend educator who has written extensively on learn how to elevate profitable youngsters.
Right here is the total memo Pichai despatched to Google staff:
Googlers,
By now you could have heard the information that Susan Wojcicki has handed away after two years of dwelling with lung most cancers. At the same time as I write this it feels unattainable to me that it’s true. Susan was one of the vital lively and vibrant individuals I’ve ever met. Her loss is devastating for all of us who know and love her, for the hundreds of Googlers she led through the years, and for tens of millions of individuals everywhere in the world who seemed as much as her, benefited from her advocacy and management, and felt the affect of the unbelievable issues she created at Google, YouTube, and past.
Susan’s journey, from the storage she rented to Larry and Sergey … to main groups throughout shopper merchandise and constructing our Advertisements enterprise … to turning into the CEO of YouTube, one of many world’s most important platforms, is inspiring by any measure. However she didn’t cease there. As one of many earliest Googlers — and the primary to take maternity depart — Susan used her place to construct a greater office for everybody. And within the years that adopted, her advocacy round parental depart set a brand new customary for companies in all places. Susan was additionally deeply enthusiastic about training. She realized early on that YouTube might be a studying platform for the world and championed “edutubers” — particularly those that prolonged the attain of STEM training to underserved communities.
During the last two years, whilst she handled nice private difficulties, Susan devoted herself to creating the world higher by means of her philanthropy, together with supporting analysis for the illness that in the end took her life. I do know that was very significant to her and I’m so glad she took the time to do it.
Susan at all times put others first, each in her values and within the day after day. I’ll always remember her kindness to me as a potential “Noogler” 20 years in the past. Throughout my Google interview she took me out for an ice cream and a stroll round campus. I used to be bought – on Google and Susan.
I really feel so lucky to have spent so a few years working with Susan intently, as I’m positive lots of you do — she was completely cherished by her groups right here. Her time on earth was far too brief, however she made each minute rely.
We’re in shut contact with Susan’s household, together with her husband and fellow Googler, Dennis. We are going to share extra quickly about how we’re going to have a good time her unbelievable life. Within the meantime, let’s honor Susan’s reminiscence by persevering with to construct a Google she could be pleased with.
