,
‘s global creator development and management lead, is leaving the
-owned video powerhouse for an unidentified stealth startup.
His exit comes after Google named Susan Wojcicki, previously SVP of ads and commerce,
. At YouTube, he was responsible for worldwide strategy development for content partners representing 50 teams serving the site’s 250-plus million video creators. Chen was also YouTube’s first marketing manager for creators and helped expand its partner program.
“Over the past four years, I’ve witnessed audiences become fans and fans become family,” Chen wrote on his
announcing his resignation from YouTube. “I’ve tried to find a place where fans can be family — even if it’s for only three minutes.”
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A Google rep confirmed Chen’s departure but declined to comment further. Chen, whose last day at YouTube is Friday, worked with content creators including such stars as
,
, Rebecca Black, Boyce Avenue, Freddy Wong and Ryan Higa.
In another recent management change, last month YouTube VP of product Shishir Mehrotra stepped down from the role to take on “an advisory role at Google,” the rep said. With Wojcicki’s appointment as CEO, Salar Kamangar, senior VP of YouTube and video, moved to role leading early-stage ventures at Google.
Before joining Google in 2009, Chen worked briefly as a development exec at Walt Disney Studios and had stints at ABC Studios and Disney-ABC Media Networks. A rep for Chen said he is joining “a stealth startup in a space he knows very well” that expects to launch this summer.
2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC