Susan Wojcicki
Born 1968 · Age 57
American technology executive; early Google employee who led development of AdWords/AdSense, persuaded Google to acquire YouTube (2006) and served as YouTube CEO (2014–2023).
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Santa Clara, California
Susan Diane Wojcicki was born to Esther and Stanley Wojcicki on the Stanford campus area.
First business: sold 'spice ropes' door-to-door
At age 11 Wojcicki started a childhood business selling homemade 'spice ropes', demonstrating early entrepreneurship.
Graduated Harvard University (A.B., history & literature)
Graduated with honors in history and literature; took her first computer science class as a senior.
Took first computer science class
As a Harvard senior Wojcicki took her first CS class, a turning point toward technology.
Worked in industry after MS (Intel / consulting)
Worked in marketing at Intel and as a management consultant (Bain & Company, R.B. Webber & Co.) prior to MBA and Google hiring; years approximate in the 1990s.
Earned M.S. in Economics, UC Santa Cruz
Completed a master's degree in economics.
Earned MBA, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Completed an MBA at UCLA Anderson (class of '98).
Married Dennis Troper
Married Dennis Troper (later a Google product manager) in Belmont, California.
Rented garage to Larry Page & Sergey Brin (Google's first office)
In September 1998 Wojcicki rented her Menlo Park garage/ground-floor rooms to Google co-founders; Google used the space as an early office/headquarters.
Joined Google as its first marketing manager (early employee #16)
Hired as Google's first marketing manager; listed as employee #16 (company had by then moved from the garage).
AdWords debuted (major revenue product)
Wojcicki led early marketing and product efforts when AdWords (clickable text ads) debuted and became a core Google revenue source.
Launched Google Image Search (co-developed)
Co-developed and launched Google Image Search with engineer Huican Zhu (year approximated based on product history).
First product manager of AdSense; Google Founders' Award
Led the early development and launch of AdSense (transformative display ad product) and received Google's Founders' Award for the work.
Applied Semantics / AdSense era (Google display-ad expansion)
AdSense plus the purchase of Applied Semantics made Google a leader in online display advertising (event cluster around 2003).
Worked on Google Video launch
Wojcicki was involved in Google's video efforts (Google Video launched 2005), putting her in the video/streaming product area.
Recommended and managed Google's acquisition of YouTube
She recommended Google acquire YouTube and helped manage the deal; Google approved the purchase for $1.65 billion.
Google acquired DoubleClick; responsibilities increased
With the 2008 DoubleClick acquisition, Wojcicki's responsibilities expanded in advertising and commerce (DoubleClick integration into Google's ad stack).
Arranged Google's purchase of mobile ad network AdMob
Wojcicki arranged or oversaw Google's acquisition of AdMob to bolster mobile advertising capabilities (approx. 2009).
Elevated to Senior Vice President at Google
Promoted to a senior VP role overseeing advertising & commerce products across Google (date per Britannica/coverage ~2010).
Oversaw AdWords, AdSense, DoubleClick, Google Analytics
As senior exec Wojcicki supervised Google's core advertising and analytics products and teams (continuing through early 2010s).
Named #1 on Adweek Top 50 Execs list
Adweek recognized Wojcicki as the top media executive (Adweek Top 50 Execs).
Joined Room to Read and UCLA Anderson boards (board roles)
Wojcicki served on the boards of Room to Read and UCLA Anderson School of Management (active during/after 2014; dates approximate/ongoing).
Quoted as 'the most important person in advertising'
Wojcicki was widely described by trade press (Adweek and others) as a pivotal figure in advertising following her stewardship of Google's ad products and appointment to lead YouTube.
Appointed CEO of YouTube
Promoted from Google exec to CEO of YouTube (took over leadership of the video platform in February 2014).
Joined Salesforce board of directors
In December 2014 Wojcicki was appointed to the board of Salesforce.
Published WSJ article advocating paid maternity leave
Wojcicki wrote in The Wall Street Journal about the business case for paid maternity leave (published Dec 16, 2014).
Launched YouTube Kids / YouTube-focused family offerings
Expanded YouTube's family-oriented apps and experiences (YouTube Kids and family initiatives during this period).
Named to Time's 100 Most Influential People
Included in Time magazine's 2015 Time 100 list; described by Time as highly influential in tech and advertising.
Launched YouTube Red (later YouTube Premium)
Oversaw the launch of YouTube's ad-free subscription product (YouTube Red at launch, later renamed YouTube Premium).
Launched YouTube Music and YouTube Originals initiatives
Helped introduce YouTube Music and Originals expansion to compete in music/entertainment services.
YouTube Gaming launched (service to compete with Twitch)
Oversaw expansion into dedicated gaming experiences with YouTube Gaming (approx. 2015 launch).
Forbes estimated net worth ~$410M (reported)
Forbes reporting around 2016 cited her on a Self-Made Women list with an estimated net worth of approximately $410 million (historic estimate).
Female representation on YouTube rose (24% → ~30%)
From her appointment through Aug 2017, percentage of female employees at YouTube rose from 24% to nearly 30%.
Worked on tightening policies after advertiser backlash
In 2017 Wojcicki enforced stricter policies on extremist/brand-adjacent content after major advertisers paused spending on YouTube.
Ranked on Forbes and Fortune most powerful women lists
In 2018 she was ranked #7 on Forbes's World's 100 Most Powerful Women and #10 on Fortune's Most Powerful Women list.
Announced YouTube Learning initiative
Launched YouTube Learning to invest in educational creator content via grants and promotion.
Wrote on EU Copyright Directive (Article 13) concerns
Publicly warned that Article 13 (EU Copyright Directive) as written could make platforms directly liable and harm creators' ability to share work.
Named #1 on Vanity Fair's New Establishment list
Vanity Fair placed Wojcicki at #1 in its 2019 New Establishment ranking.
YouTube reached 2 billion logged-in monthly users (milestone)
Reported milestone: YouTube hit ~2 billion logged-in users per month after years of growth under her leadership.
Launched YouTube Shorts (short-form video)
Introduced YouTube Shorts to compete with short-form video platforms; later reached massive view counts.
YouTube gaming watch time hit 100 billion hours in 2020
YouTube reported over 100 billion hours of global gaming content watched on the platform in 2020.
YouTube paid creators more than $30 billion (cumulative)
By 2021 YouTube had paid over $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies.
Received Freedom Forum Institute 'Free Expression Award'
Presented the Free Expression Award by the Freedom Forum Institute on April 15, 2021.
Net worth estimated at $765 million
Public estimate of Wojcicki's personal net worth (source: Wikipedia / reporting from 2022).
Approximate diagnosis: non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Wojcicki lived with NSCLC for two years before her death in Aug 2024; this implies a diagnosis around 2022 (approximate).
YouTube reported 80 million Music & Premium subscribers
Lyor Cohen / company publicized surpassing 80 million Music and Premium subscribers (Nov 2022).
Ranked #32 on Forbes' list of America's Self-Made Women
Forbes included Wojcicki in the 2023 America's Self-Made Women list at #32.
YouTube Shorts surpassed 50 billion daily views
Google announced on Feb 3, 2023 that YouTube Shorts had crossed 50 billion daily views.
Announced resignation as YouTube CEO; became advisor to Google/Alphabet
Wojcicki stepped down as CEO of YouTube after nine years, citing focus on family, health, and personal projects; took an advisory role across Google and Alphabet.
Son Marco Troper died (acute combined drug toxicity)
Her 19-year-old son, Marco Troper, a UC Berkeley student, died on Feb 13, 2024.
Public tributes and obituary coverage
Major outlets (NYT, CNN, Reuters, Variety, etc.) published obituaries and tributes following her Aug 9, 2024 death.
Died of non-small-cell lung cancer
Wojcicki died on Aug 9, 2024 after living with non-small-cell lung cancer for approximately two years.
Final message publicly released (posthumous)
A final message prepared by Wojcicki reflecting on her career and values was publicly released in November 2024.
Key Achievement Ages
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