Who is Neal Mohan? Indian American Executive Takes Over as New YouTube CEO

Indian-American Neal Mohan has been named the new YouTube CEO, after Susan Wojcicki announced she was stepping down from the role.

Mohan is currently the chief product officer at YouTube. The Stanford graduate joined Google in 2007 following the acquisition of DoubleClick by the tech giant. He became YouTube’s Chief Product Officer in 2015.

Stanford Graduate

Mohan, a graduate in electric engineering from Stanford University, had earlier worked with Microsoft. He also currently sits on the board of Stitch Fix and genomics and biotechnology company 23andMe.

Mohan, who worked with Wojcicki for more than 15 years, becomes another global CEO from India, in the lines of Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen and Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai.

“Mohan will be the SVP and new head of YouTube. I’ve spent nearly 15 years of my career working with Mohan, first when he came over to Google with the DoubleClick acquisition in 2007 and as his role grew to become SVP of Display and Video Ads,” Wojcicki said, announcing her decision to step down.

‘Right Person to Lead Youtube’

“Today, after nearly 25 years here, I’ve decided to step back from my role as the head of YouTube and start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about,” Wojcicki added.

Wojcicki said Mohan was the right person to take the helm at YouTube. She noted that Mohan set up a top-notch product and UX team, played pivotal roles in the launch of some of the biggest products, including YouTube TV, YouTube Music and Premium and Shorts. Mohan also led the Trust and Safety team. Mohan ensured that YouTube lives up to its responsibility as a global platform, she added.

‘Important Mission’

“With all we’re doing across Shorts, streaming, and subscriptions, together with the promises of AI, YouTube’s most exciting opportunities are ahead, and Mohan is the right person to lead us,” Wojcicki said, according to IANS.

Mohan said the new mission was awesome and important for him. “Thank you, @SusanWojcicki. It’s been amazing to work with you over the years. You’ve built YouTube into an extraordinary home for creators and viewers. I’m excited to continue this awesome and important mission. Looking forward to what lies ahead…” he tweeted.