As reported by The New York Times, TikTok’s Chief Executive Officer Kevin Mayer has announced his resignation from the company citing the harsh changes in recent times. The GM of US TikTok operations, Vanessa Pappas takes over the interim CEO position, as the company is struggling with US operations over Trump’s remarks.
Kevin Mayer Resigned as TikTok CEO
The Chinese short-video app has raked in over a billion active users worldwide already, but this number is before the ban of India. The Indian government has banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps over security reasons last month, and now the US seems to be following the same suite.
Trump government has previously warned ByteDance, the maker of TikTok to be removed from the US for its insecure protocols of handling user data. Also, it tightened how the app should be working in the US, as it’s now being forced to sell its US operations to a local company to stay alive. Citing all these issues, the Kevin Mayer, who was appointed as the CEO of TikTok in May this year, has announced resignation today!
He said, “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.”
Kevin Mayer has worked over 20 years at Disney in several positions. He played key roles like acquiring Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, 21st Century Fox and the recent Disney Plus subscription service. He was raked in by TikTok hoping a non-Chinese or American CEO would bring more trust on the app.
TikTok has also tried strongly to prove the data collected from users is safe and stored in US data centres, and also most of the employees handling US operations are American, yet failed to gain trust from Trump’s administration. And now, as Kevin Mayer is moving out, the general manager of TikTok in North America, Vanessa Pappas is named as the interim global head of the company.