Dying of Cancer, Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki Wrote a Final Message and Shared Her 'Most Important Lesson'

Mar. 15, 2025

Susan Wojcicki.Photo:Raphael Lafargue/Abaca/Sipa USA via AP

Raphael Lafargue/Abaca/Sipa USA via AP

YouTube just shared a message from Susan Wojcicki, the company’s former CEO, which she wrote in her final weeks before shedied of lung cancer.

Wojcicki’s final message was posted onYouTube’s blogon Monday, Nov. 25, coinciding withLung Cancer Awareness Month. According to the platform’s current CEO Neal Mohan, Wojcicki wrote the message with the hopes of publishing it this fall.

“At the end of 2022, I was diagnosed with lung cancer,” Wojcicki’s message began. “I had almost no symptoms and was running a few miles a day at the time. I had never smoked so I was totally shocked with this diagnosis.”

“My life changed dramatically after that day,” she continued. “I decided to resign from my role as CEO of YouTube, to focus on my health and my family. I was able to live an almost normal life, thanks to modern medicine. I continued to serve on boards: Salesforce, Planet Labs and Waymo, as well as on nonprofit boards like Room to Read and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). But most of my time shifted to focus on cancer research.”

In the message, Wojcicki said that she and her husband, Dennis Troper, had actively supported cancer research before her diagnosis. Afterwards, the couple donated millions of dollars for “early detection research, new immunotherapy options…and fundamental research to better understand the mechanisms and science behind the cancers.”

“I plan to continue to spend my time and resources investing in future cures for cancer,” she further wrote. “Especially lung cancer.”

Wojcicki also noted lung cancer among people who never smoked had risen and that two-thirds of people diagnosed with the disease are women. She added that compared to other cancers such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer, lung cancer is underfunded.

“Having cancer hasn’t been easy,” said Wojcicki. “As a person I have changed a lot, and probably the most important lesson I have learned is just to focus and enjoy the present! Life is unpredictable for everyone, with many unknowns, but there is a lot of beauty in everyday life.”

“My goals going forward are to enjoy the present as much as possible and fight for better understanding and cures for this disease,” her message concluded.

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“It is with profound sadness that I share the news of Susan Wojcicki passing,” Troper wrote at the time. “My beloved wife of 26 years and mother to our five children left us today after 2 years of living with non-small cell lung cancer.”

“Susan was not just my best friend and partner in life, but a brilliant mind, a loving mother, and a dear friend to many,” he continued. “Her impact on our family and the world was immeasurable. We are heartbroken but grateful for the time we had with her.”

Becoming YouTube CEO in 2014, Wojcicki played an important part in the video-sharing platform’s growth. She served in that position for nine years before resigning in February 2023.

Before joining YouTube, Wojcicki was one of 16 employees at Google in 1999 where she became the search engine’s marketing executive,Varietyreported—adding that she spearheaded the launch of Google Video in 2005 and oversaw Google’s acquisition of YouTube in 2006.

Six months before her death, Wojcicki’s 19-year-old son, Marco Troper,died of a drug overdose at UC Berkeleyin February of this year.

In his introduction to Wojcicki’s previously unpublished message on YouTube’s blog, Mohan praised his predecessor, writing,  “For two years, she fought cancer the same way she lived the rest of her life – with hope, a curiosity to learn, and a determination to scale research efforts that could save lives.”

“Through Susan,” Mohan added, “I learned that lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in women. She wanted to change those odds.”

source: people.com