'He was a shy boy,' recall YouTube's new CEO Neal Mohan's Lucknow schoolmates

Indian-American Neal Mohan is all set to become the new CEO of the streaming firm YouTube and this news spread like wildfire in Lucknow as he studied in St Francis College from Class 7 to 12. His classmates at Saint Francis' College were ecstatic by his accomplishment, recalling him as a "bright but shy" boy.

"It fills us with a feeling of extreme pride and amazement that our classmate, who spoke really less and is hardly on any social media platform, will now be heading one of the biggest social media platforms," they told The Times of India.

One of his classmates, Shantanu Kumar, a consultant and educationist described him as a very shy boy as he used to be away from social media but would only use LinkedIn. "Neal is hardly on any social media platform, except LinkedIn.

All Franciscans of the 1991 batch are happy and proud that our studious classmate who spoke less is now the head of one of the biggest social media platforms. "We were in the same section (D) of class VII. He was a bright student but since he came from the US he didn't know Hindi. However, in no time, he learned it and scored high marks in the subject in class X exam," he added.

Mohan was born in Lucknow and raised in the city's River Bank colony. However, prior to joining St Francis' in 1986, Mohan spent his early childhood years in Michigan because his parents, Dr Aditya Mohan and Dr Deepa Mohan, had relocated to the United States. His father was supposedly offered a Doctorate programme at Purdue University.

The family returned to India in 1985, and the following year, Neal enrolled at Saint Francis' College, where he studied from Class 7 to Class 12. After graduating in 1991, he enrolled in the Bachelor of Science programme in electrical engineering at Stanford University in 1992, where his incredible trip in the United States began.

“I remember him as our class topper who was a very private person. During school days he was a very sincere student, and fond of playing cricket.” “Today, he has made us all proud with his achievement,” another classmate of Neal, Mohit Jaggi, an entrepreneur, told TOI.

"Neal was an NTSE scholar and a gentleman since his school days who sought to retain a low profile," said renowned cardiologist Dr Rishi Sethi of King George's Medical University. He was a prominent figure in the startup Doubleclick, which was acquired by Google in a massive deal. Since the acquisition, he has worked for Google and then YouTube, where he has taken over as CEO from Susan Wojcicki.

Mohan was appointed Chief Product Officer in 2015 and has been responsible for the development of YouTube Shorts and Music.

Wojcicki said in her message that when she joined YouTube as CEO in 2014, one of her first priorities was to bring in an amazing leadership team. "Neal Mohan was one of those leaders, and he’ll be the SVP and new head of YouTube," she said.

Mohan joined Google in 2007 and rose through the ranks to become SVP of Display and Video Advertising. Since becoming chief product officer in 2015, he has built a world-class product and UX team and been instrumental in the introduction of some of the company's most important products, including YouTube TV, YouTube Music, Premium, and Shorts. He was also the team leader for Trust and Safety.

"He has a wonderful sense for our product, our business, our creator and user communities, and our employees. Neal will be a terrific leader for YouTube. With all we’re doing across Shorts, streaming, and subscriptions, together with the promises of AI, YouTube’s most exciting opportunities are ahead, and Neal is the right person to lead us," Wojcicki said.
Mohan thanked Wojcicki by saying, "I'm excited to continue this awesome and important mission. Looking forward to what lies ahead..."

Mohan previously worked for Microsoft and currently serves on the boards of Stitch Fix and 23andMe. Mohan received his electrical engineering degree as well as his MBA from Stanford.
 

Also Read: 'Don't do the bhool...': Mumbai Traffic Police's witty post on issuing challan for 'Shehzada' Kartik Aaryan's Lamborghini