YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down from her role. The executive, who has led the world’s largest video-sharing platform for nine years, has announced that she will be leaving the organization to ‘start a new chapter focused on my family, health and personal projects I’m passionate about.’
She will be replaced by Neal Mohan, who is currently the Chief Product officer of the company. Wojcicki has had a long association with YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet, as she joined Google way back in 1999.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki to Step Down from her Role
The 54 year old business executive announced her decision with a letter to YouTube employees on February 17. “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 wrote.
“For all the YouTubers I’ve had the privilege to work with, you have done so much to make this platform better over the years. You created the largest creative economy the world has ever seen, enabled entirely new forms of art and storytelling, and supported millions of creators and artists to reach new audiences,” she added.
Wojcicki, who joined YouTube as the CEO in 2014, will now continue to work with the company’s teams to coach members. Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin thanked the executive for her services to the company with a statement.
Neal Mohan will be the New Head of YouTube
Mohan has served as number 2 to Wojcicki for eight years. Announcing his appointment as the new head of YouTube, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said, “Susan has built an exceptional team and has in Neal a successor who is ready to hit the ground running and lead YouTube through its next decade of success.”
Talking about Mohan in her email, Wojcicki wrote, “I’ve spent nearly 15 years of my career working with Neal, first when he came over to Google with the DoubleClick acquisition in 2007 and as his role grew to become SVP of Display and Video Ads. He became YouTube’s Chief Product Officer in 2015.”
“He has a wonderful sense for our product, our business, our creator and user communities, and our employees. Neal will be a terrific leader for YouTube. With all we’re doing across Shorts, streaming, and subscriptions, together with the promises of AI, YouTube’s most exciting opportunities are ahead, and Neal is the right person to lead us,” she added.
Susan Wojcicki Joined Google in 1999
Susan rented her garage to Google founders Page and Brin in 1998, where they set up their office. She joined them in 1999 as an advertising and analytics products expert and worked for the company for 14 years before becoming the head of YouTube.
Under her leadership, the platform reached new heights. Last year, the company generated $29.2 billion in ad sales, more than 10% of Alphabet’s overall revenue. However, she also had to face certain challenges as competitor platforms like TikTok grew increasingly popular.
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