YouTube chief executive officer Susan Wojcicki will be stepping down from her role after serving at the helm of Alphabet’s video streaming platform for the last nine years, US news website Vox reported on Thursday.

Wojcicki will be replaced by Indian American Neal Mohan, who is currently the chief product officer at YoutTube

“Today, after nearly 25 years here, I’ve decided to step back from my role as the head of YouTube and start a new chapter focused on my family, health and personal projects I’m passionate about,” Wojcicki said in a letter to employees.

She added that the time was right for her and that she could do this because of the “incredible leadership team in place at YouTube”.

In 2022, YouTube generated $29.2 billion in ad sales — more than 10% of Alphabet’s total revenue.

“Susan has a unique place in Google history and has made the most incredible contribution to products used by people everywhere,” Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin said in a statement. “We’re so grateful for all she’s done over the last 25 years.”

Wojcicki has long been one of the few women leading a major tech company and played an important role in Google’s inception. Notably, she rented out her garage in Silicon Valley to Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in 1998 and joined the company as its 16th employee the following year.

As the leader of YouTube, Wojcicki placed a strong emphasis on making the platform more attractive to advertisers, while also managing a vast and sometimes difficult-to-manage group of video creators who were essential to the site’s success.

Indian American Neal Mohan, who is succeeding Wojcicki as the new leader of YouTube, worked alongside her for 15 years. They collaborated on building up Google’s display advertising business, which is currently facing a federal antitrust lawsuit.

In an open letter to YouTube’s content creators, Wojcicki said that she plans to stay around for some time to help Mohan transition into the role. She also called Mohan an excellent leader and said that he understands the creator community and their needs.

“…with Neal and our incredible team of employees, you all will be in good hands,” she said in her letter to content creators.

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