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Influential American Jewish YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki dies at 56

Posted on by darion

Former YouTube CEO and longtime Google executive Susan Wojcicki died Saturday at age 56 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. “It is with deep sadness that I share the news of the passing of Susan Wojcicki. My beloved wife of 26 years and mother of our five children passed away today after 2 years of living with non-small cell lung cancer,” Dennis Troper, Wojcicki’s husband, said in a Facebook post.

“For the past two years, even as she struggled with profound personal challenges, Susan dedicated herself to making the world a better place through her philanthropy, including supporting research into the disease that ultimately took her life,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post.

One of the most high-profile women in tech, Wojcicki, an American Jewish woman, joined Google in 1999 to become one of the first female employees of the web search leader, years before acquiring YouTube. Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Wojcicki was senior vice president of advertising products at Google before becoming YouTube’s CEO in 2014. After nine years in the role, Wojcicki stepped down from her role at YouTube in 2023 to focus on “family, health and personal projects.”

She was replaced by her deputy, Neal Mohan, a senior director of advertising and product who joined Google in 2008. At the time, Wojcicki had planned to take an advisory position at Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

Susan Wojcicki (source: REUTERS)

“Twenty-five years ago, I made the decision to join two Stanford graduate students who were building a new search engine. Their names were Larry and Sergey… It would have been one of the best decisions of my life,” Wojcicki wrote in a blog post the day she left YouTube, referring to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. “Today at YouTube, we lost a teammate, mentor, and friend, Susan Wojcicki,” Mohan said in a post on X.

Wojcicki’s Jewish heritage was deeply rooted in her maternal grandparents, who were Russian Jewish immigrants. This connection influenced her cultural identity, as her mother, Esther Wojcicki, a noted educator and journalist, instilled in her and her sisters the values ​​and traditions associated with their Jewish roots. The Wojcicki household emphasized education and intellectual pursuits, shaped by both their Jewish and Polish heritage.

Jewish Values ​​and Tikkun Olam

Throughout her life, Susan and her husband, Dennis Troper, supported Jewish causes through the Troper Wojcicki Foundation. They supported organizations such as the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center and the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School, reflecting their commitment to their Jewish heritage and the importance they placed on community and education.

Wojcicki’s Jewish identity was also evident in her commitment to issues such as education and gender equality, which was in line with the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world). Although she was primarily known for her contributions to the technology industry, her Jewish background remained a significant aspect of her personal and philanthropic endeavors. In 2019, she was named one of the most influential Jews in the world by Jerusalem Post.

On March 5, 2014, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a series of meetings in Silicon Valley to promote investment in Israel’s technology sector. Among the corporate leaders he met was Wojcicki, who was then CEO of YouTube. The meetings focused on expanding Israel’s technology partnerships with major technology companies, including Apple and WhatsApp. Netanyahu encouraged these leaders to increase their investment in the Israeli economy and discussed potential opportunities, such as Apple’s possible involvement in Israel’s national cyber park in Beersheba.