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TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer quits amid US pressure on ByteDance to sell the short video service

  • Mayer expects ‘a resolution very soon’ for TikTok’s situation in the US, which may fuel further speculation on owner ByteDance’s next move
  • ByteDance has been reportedly involved in separate talks to divest TikTok’s US operation with Netflix, Microsoft and Oracle

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Kevin Mayer, formerly The Walt Disney Company’s top streaming executive, has resigned as chief executive at TikTok ahead of a potential restructuring at the short video app operator. Photo: AP
Coco Feng

TikTok chief executive Kevin Mayer resigned on Thursday after only three months on the job, amid the Trump administration’s pressure on ByteDance to divest the US operation of its popular short video service.

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“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,” said Mayer in an internal note to employees shared by a TikTok spokesman.

“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.”

An executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on August 14 directed ByteDance to divest its TikTok operation in the US within 90 days. Beijing-based ByteDance on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court for the Central District of California against US President Donald Trump, the Department of Commerce and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross over an executive order signed on August 6, which sought to ban transactions with TikTok owner ByteDance in the interest of national security.
TikTok's new office space at the C3 campus in Culver City, on the west side of Los Angeles, California. Photo: Agence France-Presse
TikTok's new office space at the C3 campus in Culver City, on the west side of Los Angeles, California. Photo: Agence France-Presse
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Vanessa Pappas, general manager for TikTok’s North America, Australia and New Zealand operations, has been named as interim head of TikTok, according to the company spokesman. Pappas previously served as a strategic adviser to ByteDance, following a nearly four-year stint as global head for creative insights at YouTube, according to her LinkedIn page.

“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,” the TikTok spokesman said. “We thank him for his time at the company and wish him well.”

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