Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has revealed that former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who passed away after two years of living with lung cancer, once took him for an ice cream and a walk around campus during his Google interview 20 years ago.
Remembering the days when he joined Google, Pichai said he was so fortunate to have spent so many years working with Susan closely.
“Susan always put others first, both in her values and in the day to day. I’ll never forget her kindness to me as a prospective ‘Noogler’ 20 years ago,” Pichai wrote.
He further said: “I was sold – on Google and Susan. She was absolutely loved by her teams. Her time on earth was far too short, but she made every minute count”.
Pichai termed Susan’s loss as devastating for “all of us who know and love her, for the thousands of Googlers she led over the years, and for millions of people all over the world who looked up to her” as she created incredible things at Google, YouTube and beyond.
Susan was one of Google’s earliest employees and had received a ‘Google Founders Award’ for making AdSense, which helped tremendously in Google’s advertising. Her tenure as CEO of YouTube saw the platform’s growth into a global powerhouse, impacting millions of content creators and billions of viewers.
Pichai said that Susan’s journey, from the garage she rented to Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google founders) to leading teams across consumer products and building Ads business to becoming the CEO of YouTube, one of the world’s most significant platforms, “is inspiring by any measure”.
But she didn’t stop there. As one of the earliest Googlers — and the first to take maternity leave — Susan used her position to build a better workplace for everyone.
In the years that followed, her advocacy around parental leave set a new standard for businesses everywhere. Susan was also deeply passionate about education.
Over the last two years, Susan devoted herself to making the world better through her philanthropy, including supporting research for the disease that ultimately took her life.
“I know that was very meaningful to her and I’m so glad she took the time to do it,” said Pichai, adding that let’s honour Susan’s memory by continuing to build a Google she would be proud of.
