Kevin Mayer's Journey From Disney to TikTok Might Not Have a Happy Ending Amid App's Possible US Ban

TikTok's future in the United States is still uncertain as President Donald J. Trump announced late last week that he would be banning the short-video app in the country by either signing an executive order or using emergency economic powers amid the issues surrounding the app involving privacy and security concerns.With that, many would think TikTok CEO and

ByteDance COO Kevin Mayer would not have a happy ending with the company.

Kevin Mayer's Life as Disney Exec

The CEO was a former Disney exec, dubbed as the king of Disney streaming for his position as the head of streaming, overseeing the launch of the company's streaming platform, Disney+ back in November 2019.

According to Business Insider, Mayer worked with Disney since 1993 but briefly left the company to become the CEO of the digital arm of Playboy Enterprises, Inc., Playboy.com, but he only held the position for less than a year.

Working with Disney, the 58-year-old man helped in closing major deals such as the company's purchase of big names like Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and, most recently, 21st Century Fox and became a prominent name.

"He's a closer, he's a benevolent killer," vice-chairman of the Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. said, who was also a close friend of Mayer, in an interview with Bloomberg back in October 2019.

Potential Disney Successor

His role in Disney has been so massive that business analysts saw him as a potential candidate to replace former Disney CEO Bob Iger, who stepped down from his position earlier this year.

Nevertheless, former chairman of Disney parks, experiences, and products, Bob Chapek, replaced Iger as the new CEO of the company--and despite what others speculate, Mayer remained firm that his transition to TikTok had nothing to do with being passed on as CEO.

"The only reason I'm leaving is for what I think of as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Mayer said in an interview regarding the rumors.

By 2018, Mayer's base salary had climbed from $1.5 million to $1.8 million when he was promoted as Disney's head of streaming, but there appears to be no information yet of his salary as TikTok CEO.

From Disney to TikTok

However, he stepped down from his position. He was hired by ByteDance to take the helm of the short-video app TikTok, which, according to CNN, appeared to be a way for the app to bolster its American credentials as well as to improve their standing with the U.S. regulators.

"It's been one of the wildest years for a Hollywood executive I've seen in a long time. It couldn't have been more dramatic if Disney's studios wrote it," said director Jeffrey Cole of USC's Annenberg Center for the Digital Future.

"In a few months, he went from launching one of the most important streaming services in a long time and looking like the most likely heir to [former CEO] Bob Iger at Disney to a guy fighting to keep his company alive from the President of the United States."

Variety noted Mayer's reason to leave Disney and moved to TikTok, saying that the opportunity to join ByteDance and TikTok, the fastest company to hit $15 million, was a unique chance he could not give up and said that there aren't that many companies like them.

As of now, the world is still uncertain of the app's fate in the U.S. and how Mayer would manage to keep the company afloat despite the controversies.

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Written by: Nhx Tingson