Short-video app TikTok has appointed Kevin Mayer as CEO. In his new role, Mayer will also be chief operating officer of TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and report to its founder and CEO, Yiming Zhang. In his new role, Mayer will be responsible for driving the global development of ByteDance, as well as overseeing corporate functions including corporate development, sales, marketing, public affairs, security, moderation, and legal. Additionally, he will oversee ByteDance’s music and gaming divisions along with its India social networking app ‘Helo’ and emerging businesses. Mayer will start working at ByteDance from June 1, 2020.
“Like everyone else, I’ve been impressed watching the company build something incredibly rare in TikTok – a creative, positive online global community – and I’m excited to help lead the next phase of ByteDance’s journey as the company continues to expand its breadth of products across every region of the world,” Mayer said in a statement.
Prior to joining TikTok, Mayer worked for Disney as chairman, streaming and international business, leading the the media company’s streaming business which launched Disney+ in November. Mayer was known for his role in building Disney through mergers, including the 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s TV and film business. He was also instrumental in Disney’s acquisitions of Lucasfilm (and the Star Wars franchise), Pixar, and the Marvel franchise.
Interestingly, Mayer leaves Disney a few months after the entertainment giant named a longtime executive, Bob Chapek, to replace the well-regarded CEO Bob Iger. Mayer had been regarded as a possible Iger successor. On Monday, Disney announced Rebecca Campbell, as Mayer’s successor to the chairman of the streaming and international business, and also announced Josh D’Amaro, the president of Walt Disney World Resort, as the successor to Chapek’s old job as head of parks, experiences and products.
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