TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigns amid U.S. pressure for its Chinese owner to sell the popular video app.
Less than four months after joining the video app, Mr. Mayer said he was leaving. TikTok has been under pressure from the Trump administration.
In a note to employees, Mr. Mayer said that a series of changes to TikTok’s structure prompted him to leave. The app, which is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance, has been ordered by the White House to sell its U.S. operations by mid-September.
Mr. Mayer, did not address the specific timing of his departure.
He wrote in the mail, “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.”
He added, “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.”
Mr. Mayer, who joined TikTok in May, added that he had signed up for a global role and that leading a global team had been a “big draw” for him.
His departure underscores the difficulties facing TikTok as it has become a geopolitical plague amid worsening U.S.-China tensions.
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