During his tenure at YouTube, which was acquired by Google in 2006, Wojcicki oversaw the growth of the video platform into a global phenomenon with over one billion monthly active users.
Though she has become one of the most respected female executives in the male-dominated tech industry, Wojcicki will also be remembered as Google’s first landlady.
Garage for rent to co-founders of Google
Wojcicki played an integral role in helping Google during its early days.
In September 1998, shortly after Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin incorporated their search engine into a company, Wojcicki rented out the garage of his Menlo Park, California, home for $1,700 a month .
Page and Brin – both 25 at the time – continued to perfect their search engine in Wojcicki’s garage for five months before moving Google to a more formal office.
The two then convinced their former landlord to come work for their company.
Google Doodle, AdWords, Image Search
As Google’s first chief marketing officer, Wojcicki was responsible for developing and executing the company’s first viral marketing strategy.
He helped create the company’s longtime logo with designer Ruth Kedar and spearheaded the first Google Doodles.
Wojcicki also oversaw the company’s first AdWords sale and also developed and launched Google Images with engineer Huican Zhu.
Wojcicki’s contributions to Google’s growth and success are significant. He helped establish the company’s brand and image and played a key role in driving the initial revenue growth that allowed Google to become the dominant player in online search and advertising.
Subsequently, Susan rose to a senior executive at Google, eventually rising to the position of CEO of YouTube in 2014.
In 2006, Google bought Wojcicki’s home to serve as a monument to the roots of a company now valued at $1.2 trillion.
During Wojcicki’s career at Google, Brin became his brother-in-law when he married his sister, Anne, in 2007. Brin and Anne Wojcicki divorced in 2015.
(With contributions from agencies)
