One of the crucial outstanding ladies in tech — and one among Google’s earliest staff — is leaving the corporate.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who has led the world’s largest video website for the final 9 years, is stepping down from her function. She’ll get replaced by Neal Mohan, her longtime lieutenant.

In a letter despatched to YouTube’s staff, Wojcicki mentioned she was leaving with a purpose to “begin a brand new chapter centered on my household, well being and private initiatives I’m obsessed with.”

Throughout her tenure, YouTube grew to become more and more essential to the enterprise for Google, which purchased the positioning in 2006, and Alphabet, the holding firm that homes each of them: In 2022, YouTube generated $29.2 billion in advert gross sales — greater than 10 % of Alphabet’s whole income.

Wojcicki’s departure additionally has significant symbolism for Google and tech typically. For years, she has been one of many only a few ladies to function an enormous tech enterprise. And she or he was an integral a part of Google’s founding — she famously rented out her Silicon Valley storage to co-founders Larry Web page and Sergey Brin in 1998, and joined the corporate as its 16th worker a yr later.

“Susan has a singular place in Google historical past and has made essentially the most unbelievable contribution to merchandise utilized by individuals in all places,” Web page and Brin mentioned in an announcement. “We’re so grateful for all she’s achieved over the past 25 years.”

Wojcicki began at Google operating advertising, helped construct its on-line advert enterprise, and at one level ran the corporate’s video service that was making an attempt to compete with YouTube. She ended up arguing that Google can purchase the positioning as an alternative.

Throughout her tenure as YouTube’s chief, she made a degree of accelerating its accessibility to advertisers, whereas concurrently making an attempt to wrangle an unlimited and unruly group of video creators that powered the positioning.

That periodically led to criticism from each video-makers, who mentioned YouTube’s rule modifications and moderation choices made it laborious for them to make a residing, and outsiders, who mentioned the corporate wasn’t taking a agency sufficient hand to discourage hate speech and different disagreeable content material. “We managed to upset everyone,” Wojcicki advised me in a 2019 interview.

Wojcicki has spent years working carefully with Mohan, her successor. The 2 of them first labored collectively constructing Google’s show promoting enterprise, and Mohan has been Wojcicki’s No. 2 at YouTube since 2015.

“Susan has constructed an distinctive staff and has in Neal a successor who is able to hit the bottom operating and lead YouTube via its subsequent decade of success,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned in an announcement.

Under is the complete textual content of Wojcicki’s letter to her staff:

Topic: A private replace

Hello YouTubers,

Twenty-five years in the past I made the choice to affix a few Stanford graduate college students who had been constructing a brand new search engine. Their names had been Larry and Sergey. I noticed the potential of what they had been constructing, which was extremely thrilling, and though the corporate had just a few customers and no income, I made a decision to affix the staff.

It will be top-of-the-line choices of my life.

Through the years, I’ve worn many hats and achieved so many issues: managed advertising, co-created Google Picture Search, led Google’s first Video and Guide search, in addition to early components of AdSense’s creation, labored on the YouTube and DoubleClick acquisitions, served as SVP of Adverts, and for the final 9 years, the CEO of YouTube. I took on every problem that got here my method as a result of it had a mission that benefited so many individuals’s lives all over the world: discovering info, telling tales and supporting creators, artists and small companies. I’m so pleased with the whole lot we’ve achieved. It’s been exhilarating, significant and all-consuming.

At this time, after practically 25 years right here, I’ve determined to step again from my function as the top of YouTube and begin a brand new chapter centered on my household, well being and private initiatives I’m obsessed with.

The time is true for me, and I really feel ready to do that as a result of we now have an unbelievable management staff in place at YouTube. Once I joined YouTube 9 years in the past, one among my first priorities was bringing in an unbelievable management staff. Neal Mohan was a type of leaders, and he’ll be the SVP and new head of YouTube. I’ve spent practically 15 years of my profession working with Neal, first when he came visiting to Google with the DoubleClick acquisition in 2007 and as his function grew to develop into SVP of Show and Video Adverts. He grew to become YouTube’s Chief Product Officer in 2015. Since then, he has arrange a top-notch product and UX staff, performed pivotal roles within the launch of a few of our greatest merchandise, together with YouTube TV, YouTube Music and Premium and Shorts, and has led our Belief and Security staff, making certain that YouTube lives as much as its accountability as a world platform. He has a beautiful sense for our product, our enterprise, our creator and person communities and our staff. Neal can be a terrific chief for YouTube.

With all we’re doing throughout Shorts, streaming and subscriptions, along with the guarantees of AI, YouTube’s most enjoyable alternatives are forward, and Neal is the best individual to steer us.

For all of the YouTubers I’ve had the privilege to work with, you’ve got achieved a lot to make this platform higher over time. You created the biggest artistic financial system the world has ever seen, enabled totally new types of artwork and storytelling, and supported thousands and thousands of creators and artists to achieve new audiences—all whereas investing in accountable progress in order that this good neighborhood of creators, artists, viewers and advertisers couldn’t solely co-exist however thrive collectively. Thanks!

As for me, within the brief time period, I plan to help Neal and assist with the transition, which is able to embody persevering with to work with some YouTube groups, teaching staff members, and assembly with creators. In the long run, I’ve agreed with Sundar to tackle an advisory function throughout Google and Alphabet. It will permit me to name on my totally different experiences over time to supply counsel and steerage throughout Google and the portfolio of Alphabet corporations. It’s an extremely essential time for Google—it jogs my memory of the early days—unbelievable product and know-how innovation, big alternatives, and a wholesome disregard for the unattainable.

And past that, I’ll nonetheless be round, so I’ll have an opportunity to thank the hundreds of individuals from all throughout the corporate and the world who I’ve labored with and realized from. However for now, I need to thank Sundar for his management, help and imaginative and prescient over time. I additionally need to thank Larry and Sergey for inviting me on what has really been the journey of a lifetime. I all the time dreamed of working for a corporation with a mission that would change the world for the higher. Because of you and your imaginative and prescient, I acquired the prospect to stay that dream. It has been an absolute privilege to be part of it, and I’m excited for what’s subsequent.

Thanks for the whole lot,

Susan