Sherwood News

Susan Wojcicki helped build YouTube into a billion-dollar advertising behemoth

8/12/24 10:50AM

Susan Wojcicki, the former CEO of YouTube, employee number 16 at Google, and one-time landlord for the tech company’s founders in the late 90s, died at 56 after living with lung cancer for 2 years, according to a Facebook post from her husband on Friday.

Current Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai paid tribute in a memo to employees, highlighting Wojcicki’s role in building the Google ad business, her work leading YouTube, and her parental leave advocacy (Wojcicki was the first Googler to take maternity leave) which “set a new standard for businesses everywhere”.

Platform pioneer

Wojcicki has been credited with convincing the Google board to stump up the $1.65 billion for YouTube in 2006, as Google Video, the unit she oversaw at the time, struggled to compete.

8 years later, she was made CEO of the video-sharing platform, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that YouTube made about $4 billion in the year that Wojcicki took the helm. Per Alphabet’s latest annual report for 2023 — the year that Wojcicki resigned to focus on her family, health, and personal projects — adverts made the company $31.5 billion. That figure was up ~690% since 2014 and accounted for more than 10% of Alphabet’s overall revenue for the year.

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American Airlines joins the flock, hiking bag fees amid higher jet fuel prices

American Airlines on Thursday announced that it, too, will be hiking the fees it charges customers to check luggage.

With the move, all four of the major US airlines, which together control about 80% of the US market, have now hiked their baggage fees in recent days amid surging jet fuel prices.

The change will go into effect on tickets bought on or after Thursday, the same day Southwest’s hike begins.

Since late March, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Canada’s WestJet, and Southwest have hiked their fees. Experts expect more major carriers to follow, and to potentially tweak the pricing of other ancillary revenue sources like seat assignments and carry-on luggage.

American Airlines updates bag fees and Basic Economy fares

The change will go into effect on tickets bought on or after Thursday, the same day Southwest’s hike begins.

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Less than a year after implementing them, Southwest is also hiking its bag fees

Southwest Airlines has joined the growing list of airlines opting to hike their bag fees amid sustained higher jet fuel costs.

Starting today, the first checked bag at the carrier — which implemented bag fees less than a year ago — will jump from $35 to $45, and the second from $45 to $55. Southwest quietly disclosed the change Tuesday.

Southwest assigned the decision to “part of an ongoing analysis of the business and against the evolving global backdrop.”

As of Wednesday, jet fuel prices dropped to $4.16 a gallon, per the Argus US Jet Fuel Index, down from $4.81 on Tuesday following President Trump’s ceasefire announcement, which sent travel stocks soaring. Major airlines have shed some of those gains in premarket trading Thursday.

With the move to hike bag fees, Southwest joins JetBlue, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Canada’s WestJet, all of which also boosted fees this month. Experts expect more major carriers to follow, and to potentially tweak the pricing of other ancillary revenue sources like seat assignments and carry-on luggage.

Three US airlines have already hiked baggage fees. More are likely on the way.