Kevin Mayer, TikTok’s American CEO of just four months steps down from his post. Mayer announced his resignation over an email sent to staff first obtained by the Financial Times, which can be read in full here.
The email reads:
“I decided to join this company this spring because ByteDance is utterly unique and it offered the opportunity to play a leadership role in a company that is changing the global internet landscape. Since joining, I have been incredibly impressed with the team and the company.”
He then goes on to say:
“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. 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.
I want to be clear that this decision has nothing to do with the company, what I see for our future, or the belief I have in what we are building. Yiming understands my decision and I thank him for his support on this.”
This email was shortly followed up by Zhang Yiming, ByteDance’s founder, who said he understands Mayer’s decision. He goes on to reassure staff, “we are moving quickly to find resolutions to the issues that we face globally, particularly in the US and India,” and lets them know that Vanessa Pappas will take over from Mayer as interim.
TikTok hasn’t had an easy ride in recent months and, by proxy, neither has Mayer. Following Trump’s first executive order to ban any US transactions with the Chinese owned company, which was followed by an extension, TikTok has been the center of a political battle.
Apparently, Mayer was left out of the most recent acquisition talks which, up to now, have included Microsoft, Twitter, Oracle, and now Walmart.
Walmart told the BBC it thought a deal with the Chinese video-sharing app would help it expand its operations, stating: “We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators.”
The acquisition probably played a significant part in Mayer’s decision to step down. Yiming said in his email that he “fully understand[s] that “the resulting outcome that we land upon due to the political circumstances we are operating within” would have a significant impact on Mayer’s role.
Tal Chalozin, chief technology officer at analytics firm Innovid, said that Mayer could end up “reporting to someone who likely wants to use TikTok for a different strategy,” which wouldn’t be right for him, especially after his huge success with Disney+.
A TikTok spokesperson told The Verge, “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,” adding, “We thank him for his time at the company and wish him well.”
