TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigns amid threats of app getting banned in the US
New Delhi : TikTok chief Kevin Mayer has resigned from his post after being the CEO for about four months. Mayer sent out a letter to all employees announcing his decision to resign, reported Financial Times.
Mayer informed the parent company Bytedance about his decision to quit on Thursday.
Vanessa Pappas, who is currently general manager of TikTok, will act as interim head, according to Mayer’s letter.
The decision from Mayer comes days after the US President Donald Trump threatened to ban the application due to security issues.
"I understand that the role that I signed up for — including running TikTok globally — will look very different as a result of the US administration's action to push for a sell off of the US business," Mayer wrote in the letter.
People familiar with the matter said that Mayer had not anticipated that TikTok will have to face the heat of US-China war to this extent.
Earlier this month Trump said that his administration had credible evidence that ByteDance might take action to hurt US security.
“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. We thank him for his time at the company and wish him well,” TikTok said in a statement to Financial Times.