He didn't even have time to take an official photo shoot. Appointed in early June, the boss of the mini-video app TikTok world, the American Kevin Mayer, announced his resignation on Thursday. He is replaced by its general manager, Vanessa Pappas, a former YouTube employee.
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“ I decided to leave the company, writes Kevin Mayer in a letter to his employees. In recent weeks, TikTok's political environment has changed dramatically. I thought deeply about what this meant for the organization of the company, and what it meant for the global dimension of the position I had signed for. "
Since the end of July, TikTok has become Donald Trump's main punching bag in his trade fight against China. The president forced the Beijing owner, ByteDance, to sell the American part of his successful application to an American company. Otherwise TikTok would be banned in the United States because of "threat to national security" , the White House accusing without proof the popular application among 15-25 year olds of transmitting the data of American users to the Beijing authorities.
The divestiture of the US portion of TikTok is nearing completion. "We expect a solution to be found very quickly" , slipped the resigned boss in his letter. According to CNBC, the announcement should be made in "the next few days . " The cost of the sale would be between $ 20 billion and $ 30 billion. TikTok, which has grown rapidly in recent months, has 100 million users in the United States.
Two offers are on the table. Microsoft was the first to formalize its interest in TikTok in early August. Walmart has joined its offer. The American distribution giant said Thursday that it was interested in the development potential of e-commerce on the mini-video platform. Historical rival of Microsoft, Oracle launched a competing offer by allying with the investment funds General Atlantic and Sequoia present in the capital of ByteDance. According to the specialized site Protocol, Oracle would hold the rope by offering 10 billion in cash, 10 billion in Oracle shares, and 50% of TikTok's future profits.
Uncertain future
ByteDance cannot freely choose the buyer of TikTok USA. It needs the approval of the American authorities, and therefore of the Trump administration. The president recently expressed his preference for Oracle, whose founder organized a fundraiser for his campaign earlier this year. Its Secretary of State for the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, would validate for his part the proposal made by Oracle, according to the American press.
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"I have no doubt that the future of TikTok will be bright," wrote Kevin Mayer to reassure his employees. Brilliant for TikTok certainly, but much more uncertain for this former Disney executive, which explains his resignation. Once sold, the mini-video platform will be split into two completely independent entities. One for the United States (as well as New Zealand, Australia and Canada), under the leadership of an American buyer. The other for the rest of the world. At best, Kevin Mayer would have taken the helm of TikTok USA. At worst, the buyer would have thanked him. Moreover, Kevin Mayer is sure to lose his position as Executive Director of ByteDance as well. Not really a future worthy of the one who hoped to lead Disney after the departure of Bob Iger at the beginning of the year.