Former YouTube CEO Dead At 56
Former YouTube CEO and one of Google's earliest employees, Susan Wojcicki, passed away at 56 after a two-year struggle with lung cancer, her husband, Dennis Troper, announced via a Facebook post late Friday night.
"It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki passing. My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after 2 years of living with non small cell lung cancer," Troper said in the post.
He continued, "Susan was not just my best friend and partner in life, but a brilliant mind, a loving mother, and a dear friend to many. Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable," adding, "We are heartbroken, but grateful for the time we had with her. Please keep our family in your thoughts as we navigate this difficult time."
Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai shared a tribute to Wojcicki on X, "She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it's hard to imagine the world without her."
Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend @SusanWojcicki after two years of living with cancer. She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her. She was an incredible person, leader and friend who had a tremendous…
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) August 10, 2024
Wojcicki was YouTube's CEO from 2014 to 2023. She was also one of Google's first employees in 1999.
She was instrumental in heavy-handed censorship during the virus pandemic, expanding YouTube's medical misinformation policy that censored anyone producing content that contradicted the government health authorities.
Former @YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has died from cancer 💉. Here she discusses censoring @Plandemic3Movie series. YouTube was worst (and still is) at censoring doctors and scientists speaking out against Covid, policies and gene therapies call vaccines.
— Dr Woof 🐭🦊 (@DrWoofAus) August 10, 2024
pic.twitter.com/vym63JBBAt
At a World Economic Forum event in 2022, she proudly admitted to censoring information, such as, "If you look at Covid —We came up with ten different policies that we said would be violative—like an example of that would be saying that 'Covid came from something other than a virus.'"
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki proudly admits to censoring information on COVID and demonetizing creators that challenge the mainstream climate change narrative. pic.twitter.com/kKVIanjpGd
— Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) June 1, 2022
Foundation For Freedom's Mike Benz commented on Wojcicki's passing.
A complicated legacy. She helped build YouTube, the greatest font of knowledge & freedom in my generation’s upbringing, but then she utterly destroyed it, leaving half my generation bitter & resentful. She helped build Google, which opened worlds of wisdom, then oversaw its end… pic.twitter.com/tug0PmS7Ix
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) August 10, 2024
A complicated legacy, indeed.