Kevin Mayer
Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings Targeted for Acquisition by Former TikTok CEO
Braun, the SB Ventures founder and manager to A-list artists including Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, made headlines in June 2019 when Ithaca purchased Taylor Swift’s former record label Big Machine for a reported $300 million. That led Swift to speak out against the acquisition, claiming Braun had engaged in “incessant, manipulative bullying” of her over a period of several years. Last November, Ithaca sold Swift’s master recordings to Shamrock Holdings, again drawing the pop star’s ire. Swift has since begun the process of re-recording her first six albums, with the first of them, Fearless, set to drop Apr. 9. In addition to Big Machine, Ithaca’s music holdings include Schoolboy Records and the Universal Music Publishing Group co-venture Sheba Publishing. You Deserve to Mak...
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Resigns Amid White House Pressure to Sell App
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. “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 said in the letter. “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...
Disney’s Kevin Mayer to Become TikTok CEO
Disney veteran Rebecca Campbell will succeed him as chairman of director-to-consumer and international. Kevin Mayer, the Disney executive who oversaw the launch of the streaming service Disney+, is leaving his post at the entertainment giant to become CEO of the fast-growing social media app TikTok. Disney veteran Rebecca Campbell will succeed him as chairman of director-to-consumer and international. “I am very proud of what our extraordinarily talented direct-to-consumer and international team has accomplished in creating and delivering a world-class portfolio of streaming services, particularly Disney+,” Mayer said Monday in a statement. Mayer joins TikTok at a pivotal moment for the app, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate ByteDance. Less than three years old, it has bee...
