Susan Wojcicki the YouTube Chief Executive, and one of the first Google employees has stepped down from her role, she said in a personal update on the video-sharing platform on Thursday, February 16.

Wojcicki, 54 started work at the tech giant in her garage nearly 25 years ago and will be replaced by her deputy Neal Mohan, a senior advertising and product executive who joined Google in 2008.

This is because YouTube's advertising revenue dropped for the second consecutive quarter, amid fierce competition for viewing time on video services such as TikTok and Facebook Reels and streaming services such as Netflix.

Mohan was appointed chief product officer at YouTube in 2015. He focused on building YouTube Shorts, Music, and subscription offerings in the role.

Wojcicki said she will focus on "family, health, and personal projects", and plans to take on an advisory role at Alphabet.

She was previously senior vice president for ad products at Google and became the CEO of YouTube in 2014.

Congrats to her