YouTube CEO and Tech Pioneer Susan Wojcicki Dies of Lung Cancer on Friday

Technology pioneer Susan Wojcicki, 56, passed away on Friday in California after a two-year battle with lung cancer, her family revealed.

Wojcicki, the former chief executive officer of YouTube and a trailblazer in online communications, played a key role in launching both Google and YouTube.

Her husband, Dennis Troper, shared that Wojcicki had been suffering from non-small cell lung cancer for the last two years.

“Susan was not just my best friend and partner in life but a brilliant mind, a loving mother, and a dear friend to many,” Troper said in a heartfelt Facebook post.

He added, “We are heartbroken but grateful for the time we had with her,” noting her immeasurable impact on her family and the world.

Regarded as one of the most prominent women in Silicon Valley, Wojcicki made significant contributions in her career. She enabled Google’s two founders to work out of her garage before eventually joining the company as one of its earliest employees.

In 1998, while Wojcicki was working for Intel, she rented out her garage to Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who were then graduate students at Stanford developing their search engine.

Recognizing Google’s potential, Wojcicki became its marketing manager and remained with the tech firm for 25 years.

“Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend Susan Wojcicki after two years of living with cancer,” Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai said in a post on X. “She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her.”

In addition to her significant tenure at Google, Wojcicki served as YouTube’s chief executive officer for nine years before stepping down in 2023 to focus on her family, health, and projects she was passionate about.