Google boss mourns

Long-time YouTube boss Wojcicki has died

Long-time YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki, who played a key role in Google's history on several occasions, has died at the age of 56. She had been living with lung cancer for two years, as Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in an email to employees on the occasion of her death. 

Wojcicki had stepped down as head of the video platform last year in order to focus on her health.

The former Intel manager rented out her garage to the two Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998. She was one of the company's first employees - and was involved in setting up the display system with which Google earns its money. She is also regarded as a driving force behind the purchase of DoubleClick, which cemented Google's leading position in the online advertising market in the USA.

A few years after its foundation, Wojcicki oversaw Google's own video service - and recommended the 1.65 billion dollar takeover of the start-up YouTube in 2006. Under the direction of the internet company, YouTube became the world's largest video platform, which Wojcicki took over in 2014.

In his email, Pichai also recalled how Wojcicki lightened the mood at his job interview two decades ago by buying him an ice cream and taking him on a tour of the Google premises.