TikTok CEO resigns

Kevin Meyer, who became chief executive of TikTok has resigned just three months after taking office.

Zen Soo reported for the AP:

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned Thursday amid U.S. pressure for its Chinese owner to sell the popular video app, which the White House says is a security risk.

In a letter to employees, Mayer said that his decision to leave comes after the “political environment has sharply changed.”

His resignation follows President Donald Trump’s order to ban TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its U.S. operations to an American company within 90 days.

Rita Liao from TechCrunch wrote:

On August 6, President Donal Trump signed an executive order to shut down TikTok if ByteDance doesn’t sell the app’s U.S. operations. The app has until mid-November to divest itself.

“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,” said a TikTok spokesperson in a statement to TechCrunch.

CNBC’s Saheli Roy Choudhury noted:

Beijing-based ByteDance, which owns TikTok, is in talks with Microsoft, Oracle and other investors in the company for the sale of its U.S., Canadian, Australian and New Zealand operations. 

Based on the Aug. 6 executive order, a sale must go through before Sept. 15 or the app could be banned in the U.S.

On Monday, TikTok sued the U.S. government alleging it was deprived of due process. The lawsuit could delay the ban, giving TikTok more time to get a better deal for the sale.