YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced today that she will be “stepping back” from her position with the platform after nine years in the role.
While she did not personally post to Twitter, the official YouTube Creators account shared a screenshot of a letter from the exec sharing the news. She will be replaced by the platform’s chief product officer Neal Mohan, who has been with the platform since November 2015.
Wojcicki also posted a longer version of that same message on the official YouTube blog. In that letter, Wojcicki said that she is looking to “start a new chapter focused on [her] family, health, and personal projects.” She didn’t specify what those projects would be. However, she added that she won’t necessarily be leaving Mohan high and dry.
“I plan to stay around for a period of time to help Neal with the transition, and will serve as an advisor to Google and Alphabet,” she said. “I remain just as convinced today as when I started nine years ago, that YouTube’s best days are ahead of it.”
The 54-year-old Harvard graduate has spent more than two decades working for Google. Prior to her stint ase YouTube CEO, she served as Google’s senior vice president of Adwords and Adsense. She began working for the search engine in 1999 shortly after it was founded.
Related: All high-profile streamers to leave Twitch for YouTube Gaming
Mohan comes in as the new CEO after more than a decade of working for Google. Before taking on the role of chief product officer as YouTube, he served as Google’s senior vice president of display and video ads dating back to 2008.
The executive shakeup comes as YouTube continues to jockey for positioning in the streaming market with the more established video game livestreaming platform Twitch. In the past few years, YouTube Gaming has gobbled up a handful of well-known creators like TimTheTatman and Ludwig by offering them lucrative exclusivity contracts to leave Twitch.
