YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, one of the most famous women in Silicon Valley, said Thursday she is stepping down from her longtime leadership of the internet’s most popular video service.
Ms. Wojcicki’s departure marks the end of the early pioneering days of YouTube and its parent company Google, and adds to the growing list of women who have left senior positions at major Silicon Valley companies in recent years.
In some of Google’s early days, it was based in Ms. Wojcicki’s garage. A personal friend of Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, she became one of the company’s earliest employees and rose to executive status over the past 20 years. Wojcicki, 54, helped turn the video platform into one of the world’s largest social media companies after Google bought YouTube.
“Today, after nearly 25 years here, I’ve decided to step down as head of YouTube and start a new chapter to focus on family, health and personal projects that I’m passionate about,” Ms. Wojcicki said on A letter to employeesposted on YouTube’s official blog.
Neal Mohan, the company’s chief product officer, will take over as CEO.
Mr. Mohan takes over YouTube during a challenging time. The company is grappling with a slowdown in digital advertising that has stalled its growth and faces growing competition from Chinese-owned short-video service TikTok.
YouTube, which added its own short-form video feature Shorts to compete with TikTok, is also trying to become a destination for more premium content with its NFL Sunday Ticket package, which offers cable programming and weekly football games.
This is a developing story. Check for updates.
