NEAL MOHAN

THE YOUTUBE CEO HAS LED THE PLATFORM INTO A NEW ERA OF TV AND VIDEO DOMINATION

- - BY BELINDA LUSCOMBE / SAN BRUNO, CALIF.

THE PILOT OF THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL distraction machine is surprisingly mellow. He's quiet-spoken, deliberative, hard to ruffle. He likes watching sports, going to his daughters' dance recitals, and open white shirts, just normal stuff. His favorite candy is the not-very-exciting Butterfinger. If you ask him to be in your YouTube video, he'll probably do it. He won't be great in it, but neither will he be horrible. In an era when tech titans are also sometimes trying to win medals in Brazilian jiujitsu or dismantle a government agency or take tourists into space, Neal Mohan is focused on one thing. He just runs YouTube.

For him, that's more than enough. “The entire dynamics of the entire media industry are changing before our eyes,” he says. “It's incredibly disruptive, and if you don't adapt, you can be left by the wayside.”

Since 2023, when Mohan took the helm of YouTube after his mentor Susan Wojcicki stepped down, the social platform has increased its dominance of the attention economy against considerable competition. YouTube, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, is both a brand and a universe. Born on the internet and nurtured on mobile phones, the video platform has now metastasized to the biggest screen in the house and almost every genre of entertainment. In 2025 it cemented its place as part of the living room, both via YouTube TV, which has emerged as people's favorite cable replacement, and, overwhelmingly, via the free app. Half of YouTube's viewership is now through a TV screen. It's also invaded the compact end of the market: YouTube Shorts reports 2 billion logged-in monthly users, similar to recently reported numbers watching Meta's Reels.