San Francisco: Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who passed away after two years of living with lung cancer, once took Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai for an ice cream and a stroll around campus during his Google interview twenty years ago, revealed to Pichai.
Reflecting on his formative years at Google, Pichai expressed profound gratitude for Susan’s guidance and leadership, which significantly shaped his career.
“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.”
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,” said Pichai, describing Susan’s passing as painful. Susan was known for creating wonderful things at Google, YouTube, and other companies.
One of Google’s original workers, Susan, was recognised with a “Google Founders Award” for creating AdSense, a vital component of Google’s advertising strategy. During her time as CEO of YouTube, the platform expanded to become a global force that affected billions of viewers and millions of content providers.
Susan’s career, from the garage she rented to meeting Larry Page and Sergey Brin (the founders of Google), to managing teams across consumer goods and developing the Ads business, to becoming the CEO of YouTube, one of the most important platforms in the world, “is inspiring by any measure,” according to Pichai.
She didn’t stop there, though. As one of Google’s first employees and the first to take maternity leave, Susan made the most of her role to improve the working environment for all.
Susan’s support of parental leave in the years that followed created a new benchmark for companies worldwide. She also had a strong interest in education.
Susan dedicated the last two years of her life to improving the world through her philanthropy, which included funding research into the disease that ultimately claimed her life.
“Let’s honour Susan’s memory by continuing to build a Google she would be proud of. I know that was very meaningful to her,” Pichai added. “I’m so glad she took the time to do that.”
–IANS
