Indian-American executive Neal Mohan, who heads YouTube, has been selected as TIME magazine’s 2025 CEO of the Year. The publication describes Mohan as a key force in shaping global culture because YouTube determines what billions of viewers watch, discuss, and share every single day. A portion of his early education took place in Lucknow, where he also learned Hindi and Sanskrit—an experience that he has often said helped shape his worldview.
TIME’s profile emphasizes that YouTube has an enormous influence on the world’s conversations and trends, and Mohan is the person steering that influence. The magazine compares his role to that of a farmer cultivating the digital “harvest” that people consume online. The analogy underscores how YouTube functions as fertile ground for all kinds of content—from entertainment to education to commentary—making it one of the most impactful platforms on the planet.
Mohan himself often describes his mission simply: to build the best platform where anyone can share their talent and be seen. TIME notes that YouTube acts like a vast garden where creators plant videos of every kind, and because the platform reaches audiences everywhere, what grows there eventually becomes central to global culture.
Despite overseeing such a massive digital ecosystem, Mohan is known for his steady and composed nature. The feature describes him as thoughtful, calm, and deeply grounded. In his personal life, he prefers quiet routines—watching sports, attending his daughters’ dance recitals, and sticking to his signature plain white shirts.
Born in Lafayette, Indiana, Mohan moved with his family to Lucknow at age 12. His father, a civil engineer completing his PhD in the US, relocated the family to India in 1985, where Mohan completed high school. He later returned to the United States to study at Stanford University, earning both his undergraduate degree and MBA.
Reports highlight that Mohan speaks Hindi fluently and studied Sanskrit during his school years in Lucknow. In an interview with USA Today, he shared that many of his closest lifelong friends are people he met in India and that catching up on nearly a decade of language classes helped build the resilience and discipline that shaped his career.
Before becoming CEO of YouTube, Mohan served as the company’s Chief Product Officer, overseeing design, product strategy, user experience, and global safety systems. His earlier experience includes senior roles at Google in display and video advertising, foundational work at DoubleClick, a strategy stint at Microsoft, and the beginning of his career at Accenture.
