TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer, who joined the company in May after leaving Disney, has already quit the company. As reported by Financial Times, Kevin Mayer will be replaced by General Manager Vanessa Pappas on an interim basis.
Mayer announced his departure in an internal memo to TikTok employees. His move comes in the middle of TikTok being caught in a political war between China and the United States. President Trump has already signed an executive order that will ban TikTok on September 20 if ByteDance does not sell the app to a U.S. company by then. As a retaliation, TikTok has already sued the Trump administration over this move.
“In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” Mayer said in the letter. “Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company.”
A TikTok spokesperson also confirmed to The Verge about Mayer leaving TikTok:
“We appreciate that the political dynamics of the last few months have significantly changed what the scope of Kevin’s role would be going forward, and fully respect his decision. We thank him for his time at the company and wish him well.”
Microsoft has emerged as one of the leading companies to have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok albeit it only wants to buy its operations in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Source: Financial Times (Paywall)