The head of streaming for Disney Kevin Mayer is leaving the Magic Kingdom and headed to TikTok.
Kevin Mayer, chair of Walt Disney direct-to-consumer and international, resigned from the company on Monday to become TikTok’s new CEO. Mayer will also become the chief operating officer of TikTok’s owner, ByteDance.
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Disney CEO Bob Chapek in a statement praised Mayer for having “had an extraordinary impact on our company over the years,” adding, “having worked alongside Kevin for many years on the senior management team, I am enormously grateful to him for his support and friendship.” Mayer was Disney’s streaming boss during the launch of Disney+, which has exceeded analysts’ expectations in terms of subscribers.
After Mayer’s exit, the new head of streaming for Disney will be Rebecca Campbell, who last year was tapped to be president of Disneyland Resort.
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This comes almost three months after Bob Iger in a surprise announcement said he was stepping down as CEO of Disney effective immediately. Mayer was widely considered to be a leading candidate to replace Iger, but the company went with Chapek, the head of the company’s parks division. Since then, as Disney takes a major financial hit as its theme parks close during the coronavirus pandemic, Iger has reportedly “reasserted control” over the company.
