Susan Wojcicki ’90, Former YouTube CEO and Silicon Valley Pioneer, Dies at 56

Updated August 11, 2024, at 8:45 a.m.

Susan D. Wojcicki ’90, a Silicon Valley pioneer who played an instrumental role in the rise of Google and later served as the chief executive officer of YouTube, died on Friday after living with lung cancer for two years. She was 56.

Dennis Troper, Wojcicki’s husband, confirmed her death in a post on Facebook.

Wojcicki became one of Google’s first employees in 1999, but her connection with the company started even earlier when her friends, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, used her garage in 1998 as the first office for their tech startup. Brin later married Wojcicki’s sister Anne Wojcicki, the founder of genetics testing company 23andMe.

Google LLC incorporated in September of 1998, and Wojcicki joined the company the following year, where she built its advertising infrastructure and served as the company’s first marketing manager.

At Google, Wojcicki oversaw its 2006 acquisition of YouTube, just a year after the video behemoth was founded. She served as YouTube’s CEO from 2014 to 2023, managing its advertising business and the moderation of extremist content on the platform. Her involvement in the rise of Google and YouTube led her to become one of the most powerful female executives in the tech industry.

Susan B. Glasser ’90, a friend of Wojcicki’s during her time at Harvard, said her accomplishments were even more significant due to the stigma around women in technology and entrepreneurship.

“I marveled at her great success after college -- in a Silicon Valley world that was hardly welcoming to women, even one who literally had Google founded in her garage,” said Glasser, a former Crimson managing editor.

Wojcicki, a former Crimson Multimedia editor, graduated from Harvard College in 1990 with a degree in History and Literature. She later received a master’s degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MBA from UCLA in 1998.

Wojcicki’s friends from her time at Harvard remembered her as a dedicated photographer for The Crimson who maintained a commitment to her student newspaper for decades after her graduation. With a $1 million donation, Wojcicki was a major contributor to The Crimson’s recent capital campaign.

Gavin R. Villareal ’90, a former photographer for The Crimson, said that he remembered Wojcicki as “a smart, sweet person and a talented Crimson photographer.”

“I always bragged that I knew her before she became so immensely successful,” he added.

Shannon Liss-Riordan ’90, a former Crimson editor whose friendship with Wojcicki extended beyond college, remembered renting an apartment with Wojcicki one summer.

“That was one of the best summers of my life,” Liss-Riordan wrote, “and I remember Susan being an important part of it.”

“She was so committed to what she believed in and truly worked hard to make technology better for the people it was designed to help. She was supportive of others' endeavors and didn't let her success interfere with her relationships,” Liss-Riordan added.

That quality — the ability to prioritize her relationships in spite of her success — made her a great leader, said former Crimson President Colin F. Boyle ’90.

“Susan was not only a very talented and successful person but one of the nicest and kindest people you’d ever meet. She was a role model in so many ways,” Boyle wrote in a statement.

Barnard College Provost Rebecca L. Walkowitz ’92 said that she became friends with Wojcicki at the end of her senior year as they worked together on The Crimson. Walkowitz remembered Wojcicki as “warm and funny and exceptionally smart.”

Though Wojcicki concentrated in History and Literature, she was part of a small group of students at the time who enrolled in Computer Science classes and were “interested in new technologies,” according to Walkowitz.

“I remember being impressed that she seemed equally comfortable in humanities and STEM courses,” said Walkowitz, a former Crimson president.

Crimson President J. Sellers Hill ’25 wrote in a statement that Wojcicki was a “loyal alumna and generous supporter of The Harvard Crimson.”

“She will be remembered for her warmth, kindness, and commitment to expanding the accessibility of opportunities in business and journalism,” Hill added.

Wojcicki was also a prominent philanthropist and an advocate for social causes, including paid family leave, which she endorsed in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. John Green, a young adult novelist and global health advocate, announced after her death that Wojcicki was the largest donor to Green’s initiative with Partners in Health in Sierra Leone.

Tech leaders remembered Wojcicki throughout Saturday as news of her death spread.

In a message to Google employees, CEO Sundar Pichai wrote that Wojcicki “was one of the most active and vibrant people I have ever met.” Pichai had earlier been one of the first to announce Wojcicki’s death in a post on X.

“Her loss is devastating for all of us who know and love her, for the thousands of Googlers she led over the years, and for millions of people all over the world who looked up to her, benefited from her advocacy and leadership, and felt the impact of the incredible things she created at Google, YouTube, and beyond,” Pichai wrote.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, wrote in a post on X that he was “saddened” by the news.

“She was one of Silicon Valley’s visionaries and she will be missed by so many,” Cook wrote.

Wojcicki is survived by her mother, two sisters, her husband, and four children.

—Staff writer Rahem D. Hamid contributed reporting

—Staff writer Avani B. Rai can be reached at avani.rai@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @avaniiiirai.