Long-time YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki dead at 56 from lung cancer

Long-time YouTube boss Susan Wojcicki, who played a key role in Google's history on several occasions, died on Friday at the age of 56 from lung cancer.

She had been living with the disease for two years, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai wrote in an email to employees. Wojcicki had stepped down as head of the video platform last year in order to focus on her health.

The former Intel manager rented out her garage to Google's two founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998. She was one of the company's first employees - and helped establish the way Google displays advertising, which is how the company makes money. She is also regarded as a driving force behind the purchase of DoubleClick, which cemented Google's leading position in the online advertising market in the United States.

Pichai recalled that as one of the first "Googlers" Wojcicki used her position to help others. She was the first to take maternity leave at the company. Her advocacy on the issue helped set a new parental leave standard for businesses everywhere, Google's chief wrote.

A few years after its foundation, Wojcicki oversaw Google's own video service - and recommended the company buy the start-up YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006.

Under Google's ownership, YouTube became the world's largest video platform. Wojcicki then took over the management of YouTube in 2014.

In his email, Pichai acknowledged Wojcicki's kindness, recalling how she took him out for an ice cream and gave him a tour of the Google campus.