YouTube’s longtime CEO, Susan Wojcicki, has announced that she’s leaving her position at the video-sharing company after leading the platform for nine years.
On February 16, 2023, Susan Wojcicki announced her departure from YouTube after leading the platform as its CEO for nine years.
The “personal update from Susan” was initially sent to YouTube staff earlier that morning, but was publicly posted to the site a short while later.
In the update, Wojcicki revealed her reasons for stepping down from YouTube, claiming that she wants to focus on her personal life and family, as well as a few passion projects in the interim.
Susan Wojcicki reveals the reason for stepping down from YouTube. The new CEO is Neal Mohan.
“Today, after nearly 25 years here, I’ve decided to step back from my role as the head of YouTube and start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about,” she explained.
YouTube has been led by a CEO since its founding in 2005 and has retained this leadership model even after its acquisition by Google.
Wojcicki also revealed the site’s new leader who will be taking her place — Neal Mohan (who was appointed on February 16, 2023), who will be stepping in as SVP and new head of YouTube.
Mohan has served as YouTube’s Chief Product Officer and helped launch some of the platform’s biggest features like YouTube TV, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium, and YouTube shorts, on top of leading its Trust and Safety Team.
“He has a wonderful sense for our product, our business, our creator and user communities, and our employees,” Wojcicki wrote. “Neal will be a terrific leader for YouTube.”
Including her time at YouTube, Wojcicki has spent 25 years with Google and will continue to play an advisory role for the search engine giant Alphabet.
“Beyond that, I’ll still be around, so I’ll have a chance to thank the thousands of people from all across the company and the world who I’ve worked with and learned from,” she concluded.
“…I always dreamed of working for a company with a mission that could change the world for the better. Thanks to you and your vision, I got the chance to live that dream. It has been an absolute privilege to be a part of it, and I’m excited for what’s next.”
Source: GETTY IMAGES
Profile Summary
Susan Wojcicki is a major name in Silicon Valley after having been the 16th employee ever at Google. She rented her garage space to Google co-founders in the early days, oversaw Google’s initial video service, and helped facilitate the purchase of YouTube. She’s been the CEO of YouTube since 2014 and is stepping down in 2023.
| Celebrated Name: | Susan Wojcicki |
| Net Worth: | $765 million |
| Profession: | Former YouTube CEO |
| Real Name: | Susan Diane Wojcicki |
| Birthday: | July 5, 1968 |
| Birthplace: | Santa Clara County, Calif. |
| Education: | BA Harvard University MS University of California Santa Cruz MBA from UCLA |
| Spouse: | Dennis Troper |
| Children: | 5 |
Source: GETTY IMAGES
How did Susan Wojcicki become wealthy?
Wojcicki worked for Intel Corporation in marketing early in her career. Then, she became an integral part of the future of technology when she rented out garage space to Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google. In 1999, she became the company’s 16th employee and first marketing manager.
As Vox reported, Wojcicki worked to build Google’s online ad business and also ran Google Video, which was trying to compete with YouTube. Her eventual argument that Google should buy the video-sharing site instead won out.
What is Susan Wojcicki’s net worth today?
Although estimates of Wojcicki’s net worth vary, it’s clear she’s made hundreds of millions of dollars at the helm of YouTube. CelebrityNetWorth puts her at $500 million, while in 2022 Forbes estimated her net worth to be $765 million.
The executive’s net worth estimates have risen since becoming YouTube’s CEO:
- 2015: $300 million
- 2016: $350 million
- 2017: $410 million
- 2018: $480 million
- 2019: $490 million
- 2020: $580 million
- 2021: $815 million
- 2022: $765 million
