Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Dead at 56

The former CEO of Google-owned YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, died on Friday at the age of 56, following a two-year battle with lung cancer.

“It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki passing. My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after 2 years of living with non small cell lung cancer,” Dennis Troper wrote in a Friday Facebook post.

“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 continued. “Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable.”

“We are heartbroken, but grateful for the time we had with her. Please keep our family in your thoughts as we navigate this difficult time,” Troper concluded in his post.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai also announced “Susan Wojcicki has passed away after two years of living with lung cancer” in a Friday blog post.

“I feel so fortunate to have spent so many years working with Susan closely — she was absolutely loved by her teams here. Her time on earth was far too short, but she made every minute count,” Pichai added.

In 2022, Wojcicki urged world governments to pass stronger speech laws to restrict speech online deemed “harmful.” Her ominous message was that the path to “more control over online speech” means passing laws that ignore the First Amendment.

In February 2023, Wojcicki, who had been involved with YouTube’s parent company Google from its early days, announced her plans to step down as the video-sharing platform’s CEO to focus on her family, health, and passion projects, after leaving a legacy of censoring independent creators and favoring corporate media.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.