Susan Wojcicki, a longtime Google employee and CEO of YouTube for nearly a decade, died Friday after a two-year battle with non-small cell cancer.
Wojcicki, 56, rented the garage of her Menlo Park home to Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they founded Google. She went on to become one of the company’s first 20 employees and took over as chief executive officer of YouTube in 2014 before stepping down last year.
After her husband, Dennis Troper, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the news Friday night, Wojcicki’s colleagues, friends and acquaintances began posting their own memories and thoughts. We’ve compiled some of their posts here and will update as more are published.
Marc Benioff (Salesforce co-founder and CEO):
Tim Cook (CEO of Apple):
Neal Mohan (YouTube CEO):
Melinda French Gates (Philanthropist):
John Green (author and YouTuber):
I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. She was (quietly) the largest single donor to our project supporting maternal health in Sierra Leone. She never asked for recognition or attention for her donations – she only privately supported our project and many others. An extraordinary leader and person.
Hank Green (author and YouTuber):
Susan stepped down from her position just under a year ago after nearly ten extremely complex and exhausting years of running YouTube. I got to know her quite well during that time and found her to be incredibly considerate, but also surprisingly kind, considering how damn tough she was. That’s so damn sad…
Diane von Furstenberg (fashion designer):
Rest in peace dear Susan Wojcicki, mother, sister, daughter, loyal friend… Intelligent, thoughtful, funny… we will all miss you ❤️🙏❤️ … Witness of our century, Google started in her garage… YouTube flourished under her leadership… She fought for her life and finally went to live with her beloved son Marco! The world will not be the same without you… Rest in peace ❤️❤️❤️
Kara Swisher (journalist):
She was a true treasure in Silicon Valley, a kind, warm and loving woman who led with integrity while also being a wonderful mother to five children.
Marques Brownlee (YouTuber):
Emily Chang (Journalist):
Ron Conway (Venture capitalists):
Alex Winter (Director, “The YouTube Effect”):
RIP Susan Wojcicki. I interviewed her for our YouTube documentary and found her to be brilliant, kind, compassionate, and willing to listen to and consider fierce criticism of the platform.
Matt Ross (former YouTube manager and founder of Day2 Health):
Such sad news. Susan was an incredible leader, but she led with compassion. She was so kind to me when I got my Parkinson’s diagnosis and found an incredible amount of time to check in on me. She didn’t always like the creative work I submitted, but she had an amazing ability to turn down work she didn’t like without making you feel like a complete idiot. I wish her family long life.
