The Silicon Valley family has received another tragedy. YouTube former CEO Susan Wojcicki has passed away; she just died today, 09-08-2024, as posted by her husband, Dennis Troper, and Google’s Sundar Pichai on social media. Susan Wojcicki death at 56 age.
susan wojcicki cause of death
Earlier Friday night, Troper wrote on Facebook, “It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki’s passing. Today my loving wife of 26 years and the mother to our five children lost her battle after fighting for more than two years with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.
YouTube former CEO Susan Wojcicki Has Passed Away
My best friend in life is not gone. As she wrote on her farewell note, we are much more than just our earthly bodies… but Susan was my partner & dear love, and no words can express the depth of what I will lose with her passing. Her influence on our family and world was beyond words. We are devastated but thankful for everything she blessed us with. Our family hopes to have all of you as positive light during this dark time — Keep our space in your most warm prayers… 🙏🏼
Pichai also wrote a note to Google employees on Friday evening.
By now, you may have heard the news that Susan Wojcicki has died after 2 years of living with cancer. I cannot even believe, that it is true. The note said, “Susan was the most alive and active person I’ve ever known.”
Non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type of lung cancer, one of two major categories, according to the Yale School Of Medicine. The symptoms of the disease are usually confused with everyday sickness, so 80 per cent of patients diagnosed have reached advanced stages, a fact sheet published by the university explained.
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The news of Wojcicki’s passing comes following another tragic loss for the couple, whose 19-year-old son Marco Tropper died after an accidental overdose in his University of California, Berkeley freshman dorm room this past February.
Wojcicki became an internet sensation in 2022 when she departed as YouTube’s CEO after a nine-year stretch — writing on her blog at the time: “I’ve decided to take things down, and focus on family, health & personal projects I truly love.
Besides being one of the first 20 employees at Google, which paid $1.65 billion to buy YouTube in 2006 — a seemingly astronomical sum back then; She of course became the company’s matriarch by renting out her Menlo Park, Calif., home garage to friends Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who were Ph. D. candidates at Stanford in those days (Google restructured in 2015 and is now currently a subsidiary of Alphabet.)
Even in years to come, it remained widely reported that it was Wojcicki herself — a marketing manager at Google back then — who after spotting YouTube receive an initial thumbs-up from the audience came up with the suggestion of acquiring by Page and Brin.
YouTube went to become a multi-billion dollar cash cow for Google under her leadership. Alphabet said it generated $8.1 billion in revenue from YouTube ads in 2023, which made up nearly 10% of the company’s total sales during that time period.
Not very surprising, considering Wojcicki’s roots in Silicon Valley and the SF Bay area at large. She is the sister of 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki. One of his sisters, Janet is a pediatrician with University California San Francisco. Their mother Esther Wojcicki is an author and educator known for her advocacy on raising successful children.
Pichai sent the following memo to all Googlers full-time:
Dear Googlers,
If it is you are hearing of Susan Wojcicki’s passing after living with lung cancer for two years. I am sitting here typing this out, and finding it hard to believe that statement is actually true. As it turned out, Susan was one of the most dynamic and lively individuals I have had ever met. For us who know her personally, for the millions of Googlers she touched countless times over the years; and most importantly to humanity too — Her loss is devastating!
Susan has faced many challenges in her life, mom and single parent to multiple family member brain injuries over the years ranging from a garage she rented for Larry and Sergey…to leading consumer products with our core Ads business…and then running all of YouTube — one of the biggest properties on Earth. But she didn’t stop there. So, as one of the first Googlers ever-> and definitely the first to go out on maternity leave -> Susan used her position to make sure she was helping build a better workplace for everybody else. Over the years, she has continued to be a leading advocate on behalf of women and parents pushing for parental leave that now some other businesses have started mirroring. Education was also a deeply held passion of Susan. She understood YouTube as a world-wide learning tool from the get-go and was an early proponent of “edutubers,” particularly those who brought STEM education to underrepresented people.
When faced with tremendous personal challenges over the past two years, Susan poured herself into her philanthropy during this time and moved closer to a world that reflected what brought meaning and purpose in life — among many things, support for research of a disease that would ultimately end up taking it from hers. I know it meant alot to her so I am glad she did it.
In values, but too in the mundane; Susan put others ahead of her. I will always remember the care she took as a “Noogler” trying to impress 20 years earlier. When I scheduled my Google interview she bought me ice-cream and we walked around the campus. I was sold — both on Google and Susan.
I have been so lucky to work hand in glove with Susan for what, I’m sure many of you feel too were some golden years — her teams here absolutely adored her. Her time on this earth was way too brief, but she lived like no one else.
Susan is a member of Google Brain in Mountain View and we are working with her colleagues, ongoing this terrible situation. We will be able to post more soon about how we are going to celebrate the amazing life of Madison. Until then, let us honor Susan by still building a Google that she would have been proud of.
Brief Susan Wojcicki Biography:
Susan Diane Wojcicki was an American business executive who served as the chief executive officer of YouTube from 2014 to 2023 (Wikipedia, n.d.). She had a net worth of $765 million in 2022 and worked in the technology industry for more than twenty years.
- Born: July 5, 1968, Santa Clara County, California, United States
- Died: August 9, 2024 (age 56 years)
- Education: UCLA Anderson School of Management 1996–1998, MORE
- Children: 5
- Spouse: Dennis Troper 1998–2024
- Siblings: Anne Wojcicki, Janet Wojcicki
- Parents: Esther Wojcicki, Stanley Wojcicki
