When TikTok’s international situation was deteriorating, its American “boss” left first.
On August 27, the Financial Times reported that Kevin Mayer, the CEO of TikTok, resigned. Subsequently, Bytedance confirmed the news to Sohu Technology and said: respect for Kevin Mayer. I decided to thank him for his efforts for TikTok.
It is reported that Vanessa Pappas, the current general manager of TikTok, will serve as the temporary head.
Kevin Mayer was previously the head of Disney’s streaming media. He just took up the position of TikTok CEO on June 1 this year. He has resigned in less than three months, adding a greater challenge to TikTok, which is already in deep geo-crisis. Certainty.
In the internal letter issued by Kevin Mayer, he clearly stated: “My decision has nothing to do with the company, and has nothing to do with how I view the company’s future and present.” He pointed out that when TikTok was sold to an American company, he had The position-TikTok Global CEO-will be very different.
But in addition to the reasons for resignation given by Kevin Mayer, all parties have shown different understandings of this move. Some netizens believed that Kevin Mayer had escaped at a time of crisis, but some netizens expressed their understanding, “It can’t be handled, it is beyond his ability.”
An internal employee of ByteDance told Sohu Technology that after receiving the internal letter, most employees were still in shock, while a TikTok employee said that the work variables in the next few months are expected to be very large.
Is Kevin Mayer lacking?
Looking back at Kevin Mayer’s experience at Disney, his achievements can be called fruitful.
In 1993, Kevin joined the Disney Strategy Department and was responsible for the content “interactive TV” business, which was an on-demand service developed by television networks before the digital age. Later, with the rise of the Internet, Kevin served as Executive Vice President of the Internet Business Group. Before leaving his job, what he tried to guide within Disney was the newly launched streaming media platform Disney+.
It can be said that Kevin has always played a role in helping the company broaden its business boundaries at Disney. He has played a key role in the establishment and promotion of almost all innovative businesses.
In his biography, former Disney CEO Robert A. Iger once commented on Kevin as the most energetic and dedicated person he has worked with. In addition, Kevin has led mergers and acquisitions of companies such as Pixar and Marvel.
The direct reason for Kevin’s decision to leave Disney was the appointment of the new CEO.
In February 2020, Disney announced that Bob Chapek has become the new CEO. Bob was previously responsible for Disney theme parks and consumer products for a long time at Disney. Former CEO Robert, who was originally responsible for innovative business, retreated to the second line. Kevin is dissatisfied with Disney’s change of direction-the offline business boss is in charge of the overall situation, which means that Disney is still staying in the offline priority development direction, and this direction is not in line with Kevin’s idea. He has a retreat.
In May, ByteDance reported that Kevin had joined TikTok.
From the perspective of Kevin’s past experience, he is not only a master-level strategist, and the negotiation of several acquisitions has also proved his contacts and negotiating ability in the political and business circles of the United States. This is the reason why Zhang Yiming introduced it. At that time, TikTok had already been suppressed many times in the United States. Zhang Yiming hoped that Kevin could exert his influence in American politics and business circles, persuade the American government and help rationalize TikTok in the United States.
But obviously, Kevin failed to complete this “task”. “It’s not purely personal, because the lawsuit is about to go next. What will happen to this process? The future is uncertain. The pressure of Kevin being caught in the middle is probably the main reason for leaving. TikTok’s prospects are undoubtedly very strong. Kevin abandoned TikTok. The cost of this is huge, and I have to give up as a last resort.” iiMedia Consulting CEO Zhang Yi told Sohu Technology.
TikTok’s final signal?
Kevin resigns, is it the “Chunjiang Plumbing Duck Prophet” behind it? This is the most concerned issue of the outside world.
TikTok’s dangerous situation in the United States has been going on for several months. The latest news is that Trump’s executive order requires ByteDance to divest TikTok within 90 days, and buyers who are currently interested in acquiring TikTok’s US business include Microsoft and Twitter. And Oracle.
Bytedance officially filed a lawsuit against Trump on the 25th, Beijing time, and stated that it is actively preparing for a “shutdown plan.”
It is worth noting that, according to a later report, on the 24th, the Bytedance Global Board of Directors had a major disagreement on the way out of TikTok. The contradiction focuses on whether to sell TikTok’s US business as soon as possible. American investors hope that Bytedance will sell TikTok as soon as possible, while Zhang Yiming has repeatedly rejected the plan to split TikTok’s US business, seeking to gain the trust of the US government through technology, governance and other means, and then Preserve global business.
In the next three days, Kevin asked to leave. In fact, since August, he has been silent before the public . Some people familiar with the matter said that he also advocated satisfying the US government as soon as possible on the sale of TikTok’s US business and had a disagreement with Zhang Yiming.
In previous reports by Sohu Technology, Fang Xingdong, the founder of Internet Lab and Executive Director of the Research Center of the Internet Society of China, once told Sohu Technology that on the one hand, the United States exerted political pressure on Douyin and negotiated the acquisition of most shares. Douyin is in the United States. What happened to China is not so much a national security issue as it is a deliberate grabbing of commercial interests.
Some people in the industry expressed their hidden concerns to Sohu Technology: “Kevin left before TikTok reached the finale, which can already explain certain problems.”
“In this period of intense conflicts and conflicts, ordinary professional managers certainly cannot withstand various pressures, and are unwilling to balance and coordinate the conflicts of opinions and interests of all parties. In short, they are unwilling to be a real trouble solver.” Fang Xingdongxiang Sohu Technology said.
“Encircle and Suppress” Zhang Yiming
After the CEO left, Zhang Yiming became more isolated and helpless.
The intention of the US political and business circles to conspire and suppress Zhang Yiming is already very obvious. An article in The Wall Street Journal on August 23, titled “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Stoked Washington’s Fears About TikTok” reported that the Trump administration’s attention to TikTok was inseparable from Facebook CEO Zuckerberg lobbying around. “Credit”.
Last fall, Zuckerbert gave a speech on freedom of speech at George University in Washington, and during this trip, he also met with many White House officials and lawmakers, and conveyed the “TikTok threat theory” to everyone. .
Previously, in response to TikTok’s threat to itself, Facebook launched a short video product Lasso that cloned TikTok in 2019, but recently announced its closure due to dismal user data.
If TikTok officially withdraws from the United States, and its vacant market will be immediately taken over by social media giants such as Facebook, when TikTok is standing by formidable enemies. Unlike the immature commercialization system of similar products in the Indian market, American technology giants have already perfected As long as there is market space in the market and product R&D environment, it is not difficult for substitutes to become a leader.
It is worth noting that this scene has already been staged in India. After TikTok was banned in India, within a week, Facebook quickly launched the Reels function in the Indian market to fill the vacant market.
When TikTok was blocked by the outside, the resignation of the “rescue” CEO invited from the inside was undoubtedly worse. American investors of Bytedance have full right to use a veto power for their personal interests, and even demand the removal of Zhang Yiming from his position. According to a person familiar with the matter, under the current corporate governance structure of Bytedance, founder Zhang Yiming and his management The team does not have absolute control over how to handle TikTok USA.
With all parties chasing profits, only Zhang Yiming himself is still looking for possibilities for TikTok and Bytedance.
Regarding TikTok’s next destiny, many experts and industry figures interviewed by Sohu Technology expressed a sense of powerlessness, “the powerless to recover, unless there is a miracle.”
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