YouTube CEO Named TIME’s 2025 CEO of the Year
Neal Mohan, the CEO of YouTube, has been recognized as TIME Magazine’s CEO of the Year for 2025. This accolade highlights his significant role in evolving YouTube into a leading player in global entertainment and culture.
For the last twenty years, YouTube, owned by Google, has dominated the video streaming landscape. The platform has been instrumental in the rise of numerous self-made influencers, podcasters, political commentators, and entrepreneurs, many of whom have successfully built impactful careers from scratch.
TIME referred to Mohan as a “farmer,” nurturing the global cultural landscape. Under his leadership, YouTube has grown into a multifaceted brand, transitioning from its mobile roots to occupy a prominent spot on living room screens, thanks to services like YouTube TV and its free app.
Over time, the application has scaled up its television presence through various rights agreements with entities like the NFL, Disney, Warner Bros, and NBCUniversal.
“The entire dynamics of the media industry are changing before our eyes,” Mohan shared in a recent interview. “It’s incredibly disruptive, and if you don’t adapt, you can be left by the wayside.”
Since taking over as CEO in February 2023, following the late Susan Wojcicki—who initially hired him in 2014—Mohan has reinforced YouTube’s market supremacy against rivals.
His tenure has seen a sharp rise in advertisement revenue, with YouTube reportedly generating over $36 billion from ads and an additional $13 billion from subscriptions in 2024, according to company reports.
This year, the platform experienced a 15% uptick in advertising revenue during the initial three quarters. Additionally, by March, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium saw a 25% increase in subscribers year-over-year.
“YouTube today resembles a metropolis with interconnected dependencies; actions taken on one street affect another,” Mohan remarked. “In its early days, it was more like a village, where many creators knew each other. I think the perspective shifts when you’re at the helm of one scenario versus another.”
During the 2023-24 NFL season, YouTube became the exclusive U.S. retailer for the NFL’s Sunday Ticket out-of-home package, a move that edged out other interested companies like Apple and Amazon.
“I would say Neal is very well prepared,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “He understands what he’s aiming to construct. His grasp of the media landscape and YouTube’s role within it is commendable.”
Described as calm and unflappable, Mohan enjoys sports and attending his daughters’ dance performances in his free time.
Mohan’s Professional Journey
Mohan kicked off his career in 1996 as a Senior Analyst at Accenture after graduating from Stanford with a degree in electrical engineering. He joined NetGravity in 1997, which was later acquired by DoubleClick, where he climbed through several roles, ultimately becoming Vice President of Business Operations. In 2003, he pursued an MBA at Stanford, which he completed in 2005 as an Arjay Miller Scholar. He briefly interned at Microsoft during that time. Following his graduation, Mohan returned to DoubleClick, leading its turnaround by focusing on ad technology and an expansive ad network. When Google acquired DoubleClick in 2007, he moved to Google and played a crucial role in integrating DoubleClick’s technology into Google’s framework. Initially concentrating on product management for display advertising, he later became Senior Vice President of Display and Video Ads, overseeing robust growth in Google’s advertising sector.
Mohan has been pivotal in transforming YouTube from merely a video-sharing platform to the significant entertainment entity it is today.
“I’m a technologist by passion and training,” Neal noted. “I also happen to love media in a broad sense. Building products, whether in advertising or at YouTube, is truly my passion.”
