The CEO of TikTok, Kevin Mayer, has announced his resignation after President Trump’s order to ban the app. Kevin Mayer only took over as CEO of the company in June after a period of being Chief Executive at Disney.
“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. I understand that the role that I signed up for — including running TikTok globally — will look very different as a result of the US administration’s action to push for a sell off of the US business.”
Kevin Mayer’s letter to employees
Zhang Yiming, the CEO of ByteDance (the company which owns TikTok), said that he understood Mayer’s reasons for stepping down. In the meantime, General Manager of TikTok Vanessa Pappas will take over his role.
While the political environment may have been the main cause of Mayer’s resignation, it is likely that a clash of different business cultures presented strains within the company.
Trump signed an Executive Order on August 6 banning TikTok unless the company sold its US operations within 45 days. ByteDance is still looking for a buyer for its US operations but Microsoft, Oracle and Twitter have all been in talks with the company. Earlier this week, TikTok announced that it would sue the US government over the ban.
