Because he is being passed over at Disney, Kevin Mayer hires as a boss at Tiktok. But then the popular video app with a Chinese owner is targeted by the White House. Mayer has no desire for the threatened dismemberment of the company – he leaves it.
Tiktok boss Kevin Mayer has resigned from the popular video app after considerable political pressure from the White House. "In the past few weeks, the political environment has changed dramatically and I have thought a lot about what these changes mean for the company and for the global role I wanted to take," Mayer wrote in a memo to employees, according to CNN . "It is with a heavy heart that I would like to inform you that I have decided to leave the company." Vanessa Pappas, currently US boss of the app, is to lead the company on an interim basis.
With his statements, Mayer alludes to the impending sale of Tiktok. The app belongs to the Chinese internet company Bytedance. US President Donald Trump accuses the company of using the platform to spy on the government in Beijing. He had therefore banned US business with Tiktok, the ban is due to take effect in mid-September. If it goes into effect, that would be the end of the app in the US.
On Monday, Tiktok filed a lawsuit against the decision. However, a separation from Bytedance seems inevitable: The software giant Microsoft is currently negotiating a purchase of Tiktok's business in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the meantime, the software company Oracle is also considered a possible buyer.
The American Mayer took up the post of chief at Tiktok only a few months ago. He came from the entertainment giant Disney, where he was responsible for the streaming business and was long considered the crown prince of corporate boss Bob Iger. But he passed Mayer over and appointed Bob Chapek, the manager responsible for the theme parks, to be his successor. Mayer soon moved to Tiktok, where he was to lead global expansion.
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