Neal Mohan Named TIME’s 2025 CEO of the Year: Indian-Origin YouTube Chief Studied in Lucknow

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, an Indian-origin technologist who spent part of his childhood studying in Lucknow, has been named TIME Magazine’s 2025 CEO of the Year. The global publication credits Mohan with shaping the daily “cultural diet” of billions, calling him one of the most influential figures in the attention economy.

TIME described the 52-year-old leader as a soft-spoken, thoughtful executive whose work defines how the world consumes video. “YouTube is creating the cultural diet that the globe is beginning to subsist on. Mohan is the farmer; what he cultivates will be what we eat,” the magazine wrote.

From Lucknow to the world’s biggest video stage

Born in Lafayette, Indiana, Mohan moved to Lucknow in 1985 at age 12, where he completed his schooling and studied Hindi and Sanskrit. He later returned to the US, earning an undergraduate degree and an MBA from Stanford University.

Mohan has often spoken about how his formative years in India shaped his worldview. “Some of my best friends through life are friends I met during high school in India,” he earlier told USA Today, recalling how he had to learn nearly nine years’ worth of Hindi and Sanskrit after shifting from the US.

Strengthening YouTube since becoming CEO in 2023

Mohan took over as CEO in 2023 after Susan Wojcicki stepped down. Under his leadership, YouTube has expanded its dominance despite rising competition in the short-video and streaming space.

Key milestones under Mohan:

• Half of YouTube’s global viewership now happens on TV screens, driven by YouTube TV and the main app.

• YouTube Shorts has surged to 2 billion logged-in monthly users, matching the reach of Meta’s Reels.

• The platform continues to be both a digital ecosystem and a massive cultural force, marking 20 years in 2025.

TIME calls him the “pilot of the world’s most powerful distraction machine” — surprisingly calm, family-focused, and grounded. Known for wearing open white shirts, attending his daughters’ dance recitals, and favouring Butterfinger candy, Mohan stands out for his low-key personality despite steering one of the world’s biggest platforms.

Before becoming CEO, Mohan served as YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, overseeing user experience and trust and safety across devices. He earlier led Display and Video Ads at Google, crafting advertising innovations that became core to Google’s revenue strategy.

With his latest honour, Mohan becomes one of the few Indian-origin global tech leaders recognised by TIME for redefining how the world creates and consumes content.