TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned on Thursday, months after he had taken the charge of the Chinese video-sharing app, amid ongoing dispute with the Donald Trump administration and sale talks for its business in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand operations.
His resignation comes after US President Donald Trump ordered a ban on TikTok, unless parent company ByteDance sells its US operations to an American company within 90 days.
Mayer announced his departure in an internal letter to employees. He said his decision to leave comes after the political environment has sharply changed.
Mayer in his internal letter said, “In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for”.
“Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company”.
Mayer, a former Disney executive, joined TikTok as CEO in May.
“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.
President Trump filed an executive order on August 6, prohibiting ByteDance from doing any transaction in the US for 45 days.
On August 14, Trump issued another executive order, giving ByteDance an option to divest its TikTok business in the US within 90 days.
TikTok has filed the lawsuit against the first executive order.