Disney+ chief becomes new CEO of TikTok

Disney may be the biggest entertainment company on the planet, which means that many of its key staff are good targets from other companies wanting some of that same success to rub off on them. That appears to be the thinking behind tech company ByteDance, the owners of TikTok. We’ve known for a while now that the short-video form social media site TikTok has been growing massively, even if its premise and success might baffle many who just cannot fathom why anyone would want to use it.

ByteDance announced that the man heading up Disney’s  streaming efforts with Disney+, Kevin Mayer, has decided to leave the company to join TikTok as its new CEO, while assuming the COO position for ByteDance itself, as they shared in a new press release:

In his role as COO, Kevin will lead music, gaming, Helo, emerging businesses, and will serve as CEO of TikTok, leading the rapidly growing platform as it continues to build its global community of creators, users, and brands.

Mayer will join the company on June 1 as he wraps up his work with Disney, who thanked him for his services in a press release of their own:

Kevin has had an extraordinary impact on our company over the years, most recently as head of our direct-to-consumer business.

Mayer’s biggest achievement of late has been his work on Disney+ and launching Disney into the streaming world. A skill which is not necessarily easy to see how it can be used at TikTok, but perhaps this shows a different direction and that they’re aiming for in the future. Or maybe they’re just hoping to leverage some of his tactical acumen in working with a bigger organisation. Mayer’s role at Disney will be taken over by Rebecca Campbell, who has been named chairman of Disney’s direct-to-consumer efforts. As someone who has been with the company for 23 years, she is certainly close to all the material they produce and has a lot of experience running a variety of projects in the company. So, it will be exciting to see what differences she might bring to the role as streaming becomes an increasing focus for the company.

Last Updated: May 20, 2020