Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube, is leaving the position after nine years.
She wrote on her blog that she had "decided to start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects that I'm passionate about. ".
Neal Mohan, the platform's chief product officer, will take over as CEO of the Google-owned company.
We have a fantastic leadership team in place at YouTube, so I feel able to do this, Ms. Wojcicki said. "The time is right for me, and I feel able to do this," she added.
In order to "support Neal and help with the transition," Ms. Wojcicki further stated that she would stay on staff at YouTube for the foreseeable future. ".
She praised Mr. Mohan's leadership of YouTube Music, Premium, and Shorts, as well as his work launching YouTube TV in her blog.
Ms. Wojcicki confirmed she would "take on an advisory role across Google and Alphabet" at the request of Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google's parent company, Alphabet. ".
Because of this, she said, "I will be able to draw on my various experiences from the past to provide advice and guidance across Google and the portfolio of Alphabet companies.".
In 1998, Ms. Wojcicki got involved with Google when its founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, opened a business in the garage of her Silicon Valley home. A year later, she was named the organization's first marketing manager.
She has worked for Google for almost 25 years and was ranked number 16 out of the company's first 20 employees.
During her time at YouTube, Ms. Wojcicki has come under fire from the general public for the way the site handles content moderation, the spread of false information, and ongoing privacy concerns regarding children.
Worldwide fact-checking organizations claim that YouTube is not doing enough to stop the spread of false information on the platform.
The online video platform had just surpassed one billion users when she started using it in 2014. There are currently 2.5 billion users on the platform, and a large number of YouTube creators, also known as YouTubers, have built successful businesses around their individual channels.
The highest-paid content creator on YouTube last year was Jimmy Donaldson, better known by his stage name Mr Beast.
According to recent estimates by Forbes magazine, the young American made £45 million ($54 million) in gross revenue in 2022, more than any other YouTube creator in the platform's history.
Ms. Wojcicki is the most prominent tech executive to depart from long-standing positions in recent memory.
Her departure comes after those of Jeff Bezos, who stepped down as CEO of Amazon in 2021, Sheryl Sandberg, who left Facebook in 2022, and Parag Agrawal, who left Twitter last year as part of a shake-up prompted by new boss Elon Musk.
Take Shiona McCallum's lead. Twitter handle: @shionamc.
