Former CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, has died at 56. Here’s what you probably didn’t know.
In 1998, two young Stanford University students needed somewhere to work on their idea: a search engine for the internet.
Their names were Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Susan was working at Intel Corporation at the time, but her mortgage was steep.
She figured, “why not rent out the garage to make extra money?”
In Susan’s garage, Google was born.
By the time Google started to get on its feet, Susan had a choice to make:
Stay with her stable career or take a leap on these crazy kids.
She chose the latter.
Five months pregnant, Susan’s family and friends told her she was crazy to leave Intel for a startup.
(Coincidentally, Susan’s sister, Anne Wojcicki, would go on to become founder of 23andMe, and marry Sergey Brin.)
Susan then became employee #16 at Google the very next year.
Susan went on to revolutionize marketing at the startup and was responsible for the creation of Google Images and Google Books.
By 2006, Susan’s eye for marketing soon landed on video.
She led the company’s $1.65 billion dollars acquisition of YouTube.
By 2012, Susan’s advertising team was bringing in 87% of the company’s revenue.
By 2014, Susan was named CEO of YouTube.
In December of that year, Susan made a bold move for a new CEO.
She announced taking maternity leave for her fifth child — she went on to write an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal about why women need maternity leave.
Susan went on to lead Youtube until 2023, when she stepped down due to lung cancer diagnosis.
Sadly, while battling the disease, one of her youngest sons passed in March of this year from an overdose.
Susan continued to fight, until losing her battle yesterday at the tender age of 56.
Like many women’s roles, Susan’s pivotal role in the creation of Google is rarely told.
But, now you’ve read it.
And it’s your job to pass it on.
Susan was not just a legend in Silicon Valley, but a legend for women and moms everywhere.
RIP Susan.
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