Susan Wojcicki facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susan Wojcicki
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Wojcicki in 2016
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| Born | July 5, 1968 |
| Died | August 9, 2024 (aged 56) |
| Education |
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| Occupation | Business manager and executive advisor |
| Title | CEO of YouTube (2014–2023) |
| Successor | Neal Mohan |
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| Spouse(s) |
Dennis Troper
(m. 1998) |
| Children | 5 |
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Susan Diane Wojcicki (pronounced wuutch-ITS-kee; July 5, 1968 – August 9, 2024) was an American business leader. She was the chief executive officer (CEO) of YouTube from 2014 to 2023. She worked in the technology industry for over twenty years.
Susan Wojcicki played a big part in the creation of Google. In 1998, she rented her garage to the company's founders as their first office. She became Google's first marketing manager in 1999. Later, she led Google's online advertising and video services. She saw how popular YouTube was becoming and suggested that Google should buy it. Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006. In 2014, she became the CEO of YouTube. She stepped down from this role in February 2023.
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Early Life and Education
Susan Diane Wojcicki was born in Santa Clara County, California, on July 5, 1968. Her mother, Esther Wojcicki, was an American journalist. Her father, Stanley Wojcicki, was a physics professor at Stanford University. Susan grew up on the Stanford campus.
She went to Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California. She wrote for the school newspaper. Her first business idea was selling "spice ropes" when she was eleven. In college, she first studied history and literature. She took her first computer science class in her final year. She graduated from Harvard University in 1990 with honors. She also earned a master's degree in economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1993. In 1998, she received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Career Journey
Before Google
Before joining Google, Susan Wojcicki worked in marketing. She worked at Intel Corporation in Santa Clara, California. She was also a management consultant at Bain & Company.
Working at Google
In September 1998, Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, started their office in Susan Wojcicki's garage. This was the same month Google officially became a company. At Google, she helped with early marketing plans. She also helped create Google's well-known logo. She even started the first Google Doodles, which are fun changes to the Google logo. She also helped create Google Image Search.
In 2003, Wojcicki was the first product manager for AdSense. This is a Google product that helps websites show ads. She received the Google Founders' Award for her work on AdSense. Later, she became a senior vice president at Google. She was in charge of Google's advertising and data analysis products. These included AdWords, AdSense, DoubleClick, and Google Analytics.
Google had its own video service called Google Video. But a small new company called YouTube was becoming very popular. Susan Wojcicki was in charge of Google Video. She suggested that Google should buy YouTube. Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006.
Leading YouTube
In February 2014, Susan Wojcicki became the CEO of YouTube. She was called "the most important person in advertising." Time magazine also named her one of the 100 most influential people in 2015. They later described her as "the most powerful woman on the Internet." She also joined the board of Salesforce in 2014. She was also on the board of Room to Read, which helps with reading and education for girls.
Under Wojcicki's leadership, YouTube grew a lot. It reached 2 billion users who logged in each month. Users were watching one billion hours of video every day. By 2021, YouTube had paid over $30 billion to creators and artists. YouTube now has versions in 100 countries and 80 languages. The percentage of female employees at YouTube also grew from 24% to almost 30% while she was CEO.
Wojcicki also focused on new YouTube apps. These apps were made for users interested in family content, gaming, and music. While she was CEO, YouTube created 10 ways for creators to earn money. These included channel memberships and selling merchandise. She also launched YouTube Premium, which is a service without ads. She also started YouTube TV, which is an internet TV service. In 2020, YouTube launched YouTube Shorts, which are short videos. By February 2023, YouTube Shorts had over 50 billion views every day.
Wojcicki made YouTube's rules stricter about videos that might spread hate speech or violence. These changes happened after some advertisers stopped their ads from appearing next to certain videos. YouTube also focused on educational content. In 2018, she announced YouTube Learning. This program helps support creators who make educational videos.
On February 16, 2023, Wojcicki announced she was stepping down as YouTube CEO. She said she wanted to focus on her family and personal projects. She took on an advisory role for Google and its parent company, Alphabet.
Advocacy and Personal Life
Susan Wojcicki supported several important causes. She spoke out for more paid family leave for parents. She also worked to help Syrian refugees. She wanted to fight against gender discrimination in technology companies. She also encouraged young girls to get interested in computer science and coding.
Wojcicki was married to Dennis Troper in 1998. They had five children. She often talked about how important it was to balance family life with a career. She held both American and Polish citizenship.
On August 9, 2024, Susan Wojcicki passed away at the age of 56.
Recognition and Awards
Susan Wojcicki received many awards and recognitions for her work.
- In 2013, she was named #1 on Adweek magazine's "Top 50 Execs" list. This list recognizes top media leaders.
- In 2018, Forbes magazine ranked her #7 on its list of the "World's 100 Most Powerful Women."
- In 2018, Fortune magazine ranked her #10 on its list of "Most Powerful Women."
- In 2023, she ranked #32 on Forbes magazine's list of "America's Self-Made Women."
- On April 15, 2021, she received the "Free Expression Award" from the Freedom Forum Institute. This group works to protect freedoms like free speech.
Images for kids
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Susan Wojcicki's signature
See also
In Spanish: Susan Wojcicki para niños
