SUSAN Wojcicki, a longtime Google executive who played a key role in the company’s creation, is stepping down as YouTube’s chief executive officer (CEO) after spending the past nine years running the video site that has reshaped entertainment, culture and politics.
In an email to YouTube employees that was shared publicly Thursday, the 54-year-old Wojcicki said she is leaving to “start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about.” She didn’t elaborate on her plans.
Neal Mohan, who has worked closely with Wojcicki for years, will replace her as YouTube’s CEO.
Although she became one of the most respected female executives in the male-dominated tech industry, Wojcicki will also be remembered as Google’s first landlord.
Shortly after Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin incorporated their search engine into a business in 1998, Wojcicki rented the garage of her Menlo Park, California, home to them for US$1,700 a month.
Page and Brin — both 25 at the time — continued to refine their search engine in Wojcicki’s garage for five months before moving Google into a more formal office and later persuaded their former landlord to come work for their company.
“It would be one of the best decisions of my life,” Wojcicki wrote in the announcement of her departure.
Wojcicki’s departure comes at a time when YouTube is facing one of its most challenging periods since Google bought what was then a quirky video site facing widespread complaints about copyright infringement in 2006 for an announced price of $1.65 billion. The all-stock deal was valued at $1.76 billion by the time the transaction closed. (AP)