(December 10, 2025) TIME magazine has named Neal Mohan its 2025 CEO of the Year, recognising the YouTube chief at a moment when the platform’s global influence continues to expand across news, entertainment, education, politics, and daily culture. While Neal describes himself and his colleagues as builders of the “world’s best stage for people to perform on,” TIME described Neal as the “pilot of the world’s most powerful distraction machine”, adding “In many ways, YouTube is creating the cultural diet that the globe is beginning to subsist on. Neal is the farmer; what he cultivates will be what we eat.” The recognition follows two years of sustained growth in YouTube’s TV viewership and Shorts, with Neal credited for strengthening the platform’s reach and reinforcing its creator-driven ecosystem.
Photo Credit: TIME
Early life across two countries
Neal Mohan was born in Lafayette, Indiana in 1973, while his father was pursuing a PhD at Purdue University. “So when my parents were grad students was when I was born,” he said in a conversation with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, a few months back. He spent his early childhood in Michigan before moving with his family to India in 1986, entering St. Francis’ College in Lucknow in the seventh grade. The shift brought cultural and linguistic challenges. “Coming here, where you know, I sounded funny, I didn’t have, sort of like, those immediate things to connect with people on,” he recalled. Despite the adjustment, he developed a strong academic grounding, studying Hindi and Sanskrit and navigating a different educational environment.
Finding a path through technology
Neal has described technology as the first consistent thread in his life. “My background is I am a technologist by training. I’ve been interested in—let’s say, passionate about—technology since I was a really young kid,” he told Kamath. Even in high school in Lucknow, he pursued this interest by creating software for classmates and teachers. “I had a little software startup back in the day, building software for other high school kids and teachers,” he shared. In 1992, he returned to the United States and enrolled at Stanford University, graduating in electrical engineering in 1996. He later earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2005, completing the program as an Arjay Miller Scholar.
From NetGravity to DoubleClick
Neal began his career at Accenture before joining the startup NetGravity in 1997. The company was later acquired by DoubleClick, prompting his move to New York, where he became increasingly involved in the company’s core operations. During the turbulent early 2000s, when DoubleClick was restructuring after the burst of the dot-com bubble, Neal played a central role in cutting costs and reshaping business strategy. After earning his MBA, he returned to DoubleClick at the request of CEO David Rosenblatt. Together they developed a comprehensive strategic plan outlining the future of the company’s advertising technology. The plan, spanning 400 slides, helped reposition DoubleClick and influenced Google’s approach to digital advertising.
Integration into Google’s expanding ad ecosystem
In 2007, Google acquired DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in a deal led by Susan Wojcicki. Neal joined Google as part of the integration effort and became a key leader in its display and video ads division. He oversaw acquisitions such as Invite Media and was widely regarded as an essential strategist within Google’s growing advertising business. His expertise also attracted interest from competitors. In 2011, Twitter attempted to hire him as chief product officer, but Google reportedly offered him $100 million in stock to stay.
Shaping YouTube’s product evolution
Neal Mohan moved to YouTube in 2015 as Chief Product Officer, where he led the development of several major offerings, including YouTube TV, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium, and YouTube Shorts. During this period, YouTube expanded far beyond its origins as a video-sharing site, becoming a platform that supported long-form creators, short-form video culture, livestreaming, and TV consumption. Neal also worked on updating YouTube’s content moderation policies after 2020, introducing measures to address violent extremist content. “Fans figure that out very, very quickly,” he said in reference to why content that aims to manipulate audiences rarely succeeds. YouTube also launched a media literacy effort to help younger viewers identify misinformation and understand manipulation tactics online.
Taking over as CEO in 2023
In February 2023, Neal succeeded Susan Wojcicki as CEO of YouTube. His appointment came at a moment of significant transition for global video platforms, with competition intensifying from TikTok, Instagram Reels, and streaming services. Under Neal, YouTube TV continued to expand its presence in American households, Shorts gained momentum worldwide, and creator monetisation opportunities widened. He has consistently emphasised that creators thrive when driven by genuine connection rather than attempts to manipulate the platform’s algorithm. “You’re not going to build a fan base if you’re not authentic,” he told Kamath. “Creators thrive because they are passionate about their content, not just their products.”
Cultural context and global reach
TIME’s announcement highlights Neal’s influence at a moment when YouTube functions as a global commons as a classroom for students, a distribution network for artists, a platform for political discourse, a training ground for new skills, and an archive of contemporary life. The magazine’s observation that “Mohan is the farmer; what he cultivates will be what we eat.” reflects the scale of the platform’s reach and the responsibility that accompanies it. YouTube’s vast creator economy spanning entertainment, education, gaming, music, fitness, and more continues to expand in ways that intersect with local cultures and global trends.
The scale of a global media powerhouse
According to TIME, YouTube now reaches more than two billion users every day, which is roughly a quarter of the world’s population, highlighting the scale at which the platform operates. In the previous year, it brought in over $36 billion in advertising revenue and an additional $14 billion from subscriptions, figures that executives say have risen sharply in 2025. Advertising income grew by 15 percent in the first three quarters, while subscriptions to YouTube Music and Premium with trial users included jumped by 25 percent compared with the same period in 2024. The platform’s momentum reflects a broader shift in global marketing, as brands increasingly align with the fast-expanding creator economy that YouTube helped shape.
Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube | Photo Credit: TIME
Life beyond Silicon Valley
Neal Mohan’s personal life has remained outside the spotlight. He is married to Hema Sareen Mohan, who has worked in the nonprofit and public-welfare sectors for more than two decades. The couple met during his time at DoubleClick in New York. Neal has also worked with Microsoft and served on the boards of Stitch Fix and 23andMe, maintaining involvement in industries beyond digital video.
A career marked by long-term strategic thinking
The announcement of Neal as TIME’s 2025 CEO of the Year reflects a career built around technological understanding, cross-cultural experience, and sustained work inside some of the most influential companies in digital media. His progression from studying Hindi and Sanskrit in Lucknow to leading YouTube illustrates a trajectory defined by academic rigour, engineering discipline, and exposure to two distinct cultural environments from an early age. His published remarks over the years, including his conversation with Kamath, consistently point to technology as a formative thread running through his childhood, education, and professional life.
Central to how YouTube evolves
As YouTube continues to grow across mobile, TV, and short-form content, Neal’s role remains central to how the platform evolves and how creators engage with audiences worldwide. TIME’s distinction situates him at the forefront of a shifting media landscape, acknowledging both the scale of YouTube’s global influence and the leadership guiding its future.
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