Kevin Mayer, chief executive officer (CEO) of Chinese video sharing app TikTok, has resigned. Mayer resigned within days of filing a lawsuit against US President administration’s executive order banning any transactions with TikTok.
Mayer has announced his resignation after Trump ordered a ban on Chinese-owned popular app TikTok, the New York Times reports.
In a letter to employees, Mayer said his decision came after a dramatic change in the political environment, BBC reported.
“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,” Mayer said in the letter.
“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,” Mayer added.
Mayer was Walt Disney’s top streaming executive before joining TikTok last May.
In a statement following Mayer’s resignation, TikTok said: “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.”
General Manager of TikTok in North America Vanessa Pappas will take the charge as the interim global head of TikTok.
TikTok has already filed a lawsuit against Trump’s executive order. It alleged it was deprived of due process after the US president signed an executive order using “emergency economic power”.
Donald Trump has repeatedly said that tikTok is creating a “state security risk” in the United States. US lawmakers have also expressed concern that the Chinese government may ask US user ByteDance for information on US users.
However, no one has been able to show any proper evidence in this regard yet. The United States has taken the whole issue as a “security concern”.
Microsoft, one of the world’s top technology companies, is in talks with TikTok to buy the US business.
