Susan Wojcicki, who is YouTube’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and one of the most prominent women in Silicon Valley, has announced that she is stepping down from her role at the world’s most popular video-sharing platform.

In a letter to employees, she says that she will start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects. Wojcicki will still be involved with Google and Alphabet moving forward but in an advisory role.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki

Susan Wojcicki has been a significant part of Google ever since the company was formed. In the early days of Google, the company was headquartered in Ms. Wojcicki’s garage. Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are her personal friends, and after becoming one of the earliest employees of the company, she climbed the ranks and became responsible for YouTube after its acquisition by Google, making the video platform one of the world’s largest social media companies.

Neal Mohan, who is YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, will take over her responsibilities. Interestingly, Mohan will be the Senior Vice-President and Head of YouTube rather than the CEO. He helped to launch YouTube TV, YouTube Music, Premium, and Shorts and has also led the platform’s trust and safety team. 

Talking about Neal Mohan, Wojcicki says, “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.”

Among her earlier roles, she was the first product manager of AdSense and also played a role in the earliest Google Doodles. She encouraged the company to acquire YouTube and, years later, was leading the platform as its CEO. YouTube has now become an important part of Google and Alphabet, accounting for over 10 percent of the company’s total revenue last year.

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