Discussion

• @cnbcnow @cnbcnow on x

  BREAKING: TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer quit after being excluded from deal talks between the company and Microsoft & Oracle, a source tells @JBoorstin. Multiple sources also tell CNBC that Mayer's exit indicates that a deal—likely a sale to Microsoft—could come in the next 48 hours. ht…

• @neilcybart Neil Cybart on x

  Kevin Mayer (who recently became TikTok CEO after losing to Bob Chapek in the Disney CEO race) just resigned from TikTok. Paraphrasing Mayer: I didn't leave Disney for this dumpster fire. https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @panzer Matthew Panzarino on x

  re Mayer/Tiktok: I think you would have to be stupid going in not to know that this was a possibility, all of this was on the horizon last year. But it was probably one scenario out of many - the worst case scenario.

• @sal19 @sal19 on x

  Kevin Mayer had just one job: https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @v_ness Vanessa Pappas on x

  Incredibly proud and humbled to take the role of interim head of TikTok. Our community and our team who work so hard to enable this product continue to inspire me. It's truly amazing what we've accomplished in 2 years, I have no doubt what we can accomplish in this next chapter!

• @loudmouthjulia Julia Alexander on x

  I think it's impossible to write about Mayer leaving TikTok without acknowledging the low level trauma that came with everything that happened at Disney around Chapek/Iger. His resignation, again, reads to me as someone who doesn't want to play a succession game again. https://tw…

• @loudmouthjulia Julia Alexander on x

  Remember: Kevin spent years at Disney, becoming House of Mouse's prince, believing he was about to be appointed the throne. Board said no; Chapek gets appointed; Kevin finds out less than an hour before it's announced. He's supposed to try and play that game again at Microsoft?

• @loudmouthjulia Julia Alexander on x

  For Kevin, TikTok was always about the ability to have a position that Disney very clearly and very publicly said, “Fuck you” to. He was not going to have that same autonomy under a Microsoft. And he's so burned out on the corporate politics, it's easier to just say, “fuck it.”

• @taralach Tara Lachapelle on x

  TikTok's American makeover just took a bruising It's parent, ByteDance, was relying on a cast of American executives to make the case that it's not Chinese. Now, one has departed, @tculpan says https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @bopinion

• @hawleymo Josh Hawley on x

  .@tiktok_us CEO is jumping ship, blames Trump administration. He should blame himself for signing up to be public face of a #Beijing Trojan horse https://www.cnn.com/...

• @esaagar Saagar Enjeti on x

  Let this be a lesson to any Fortune 500 CEO in America. If you gamble your reputation and future to be in league with the Chinese Communist Party You will end up looking like a fool and resigning in disgrace https://twitter.com/...

• @amlewis4 Ari Lewis on x

  Not a surprise. Why go down with a sinking ship? https://twitter.com/...

• @colinmort Colin Mortimer on x

  Dude looked into the crystal ball and saw years of Congressional hearings and legal action, and decided to quit. Incredibly based. https://www.ft.com/...

• @neilcybart Neil Cybart on x

  In joining TikTok, Mayer thought he was going to lead the next Instagram. If he had stayed at Disney, he had a good shot of leading the next Netflix.

• @newley Newley Purnell on x

  “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...” https://twitter.com/...

• @refsrc Manish Singh on x

  Kevin Mayer, three months ago, on joining TikTok: “The magnitude of this opportunity was just something I couldn't pass up.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @niubi Bill Bishop on x

  That went well...how much did he get for three months? https://twitter.com/...

• @kylebrussell Kyle Russell on x

  When you just wanted to do business development with major brands for the new hot app, not fight a geopolitical proxy battle https://twitter.com/...

• @nongaap Mike on x

  So many questions: - US divestiture announcement soon? - Who's taking over? - Does Mayer see another big opportunity to pursue? https://twitter.com/...

• @wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x

  yikes, what a mess https://twitter.com/...

• @sub8u Subrahmanyam Kvj on x

  The globalization of TikTok is likely over before it started in earnest. “TikTok chief Kevin Mayer quits after Trump threatens to ban app” https://www.ft.com/...

• @thekenyeung Ken Yeung on x

  Wowee, Kevin Mayer has resigned as TikTok's CEO, just three months after being named to the position by Bytedance. “He didn't sign up for this,” a source told @FT. https://www.ft.com/...

• @taylorlorenz Taylor Lorenz on x

  Kevin Mayer has only been CEO of TikTok for three months. But TikTok was in a very different place three months ago. “He didn't sign up for this” a source told the FT. https://www.ft.com/...

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  Like obviously TikTok has had a rough summer but this was basically all true before Mayer took the job https://twitter.com/...

• @_harshilshah Harshil Shah on x

  Don't think I've seen a resignation before that's just “this is not what I signed up for” https://twitter.com/...

• @martinsfp Martin Sfp Bryant on x

  Wow, TikTok's CEO resigns, not wanting to be in charge of a political football. I thought it was interesting how we'd only really heard publicly from their US General Manager (and now interim CEO) over the past few weeks. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @karaswisher Kara Swisher on x

  Interesting that the savvy @v_ness will take over for now @tiktok_us. Listen to the interview that @profgalloway and I did with her on @PivotSchooled Live just three weeks ago: https://podcasts.apple.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @thekenyeung Ken Yeung on x

  @FT TikTok confirms Mayer's departure: “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...” https://www.ft.com/...

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x

  That's how badly he didn't want to work at Oracle. https://www.ft.com/...

• @joshconstine Josh Constine -SignalFire on x

  TikTok CEO quits He didn't sign up to be some Microsoft/Oracle lackey But he definitely signed up to help a Chinese tech giant dodge US regulation... https://twitter.com/...

• @jason @jason on x

  didn't like working for communists? makes sense https://twitter.com/...

• @loudmouthjulia Julia Alexander on x

  To hit home just how fresh Kevin was as TikTok CEO, he didn't even get a chance to get a TikTok official photo, so we're all still using the same ol' Disney one from D23 in 2019. That's how short of a stint it was before he was like, “yeah, I'm out.” https://twitter.com/...

• @kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x

  Mayer's role was always going to be complicated if a deal gets done. He was the global CEO of TikTok, and also COO at Bytedance. Spinning off TikTok's U.S. business would have created a weird scenario for him no matter how you slice it.

• @pkafka Peter Kafka on x

  Great news for Amazon. https://twitter.com/...

• @mattgarrahan Matthew Garrahan on x

  That's one way to increase TikTok's cred with the kids https://twitter.com/...

• @leojtravis10 Joe Ortiz on x

  Walmart lol No wonder Mayer walked out. https://twitter.com/...

• @vijayshekhar Vijay Shekhar Sharma on x

  Why is Disney not in this list yet ? https://twitter.com/...

• @wes_nship Wes Blankenship on x

  I happen to believe that TikTok's should be made exclusively inside of The Wal-marts https://twitter.com/...

• @tokenceo Token Ceo on x

  Woah. Absolute GIANTS in the mix for TikTok. https://twitter.com/...

• @jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x

  The two companies are big cloud partners. Walmart has been big Azure customer.

• @levie Aaron Levie on x

  I don't understand business anymore, but this is very fun to watch. https://twitter.com/...

• @mehedih_ Mehedi Hassan on x

  bro i go on tiktok to laugh not to buy fucking groceries https://twitter.com/...

• @parismartineau Paris Martineau on x

  “The idea would be to help turn TikTok U.S. into more of an e-commerce app for creators and users, much like what current parent company ByteDance does with a similar app in China.” wild https://www.axios.com/...

• @alexstamos Alex Stamos on x

  That's a combination of consumer product-management powerhouses that will definitely maintain TikTok's viral popularity with teens. https://twitter.com/...

• @sub8u Subrahmanyam Kvj on x

  A 5% Walmart coupon for those with a tiktok account. 10% of you have at least one cringey tiktok 😂 https://www.axios.com/...

• @jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x

  .@TheWrap reporting Oracle is the one close to the deal for TikTok. Interesting. Haven't confirmed. https://www.thewrap.com/...

• @qhardy Quentin Hardy on x

  Doesn't count unless Larry Ellison submits it in a TikTok old guy dance routine. https://twitter.com/...

• @sharonwaxman Sharon Waxman on x

  “The proposed deal would comprise $10 billion in cash, $10 billion in Oracle stock and 50% of annual TikTok profit to flow back to TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, for two years, according to one individual with knowledge of the deal.” https://twitter.com/...

• @zeanes Zachery Eanes on x

  Five eyes (minus one). Who gets the UK operations? https://twitter.com/...

• @sherman4949 Alex Sherman on x

  Scoop: TikTok set to announce a deal in the coming days, likely in the $20b-$30b range. Walmart had been working on a deal with SoftBank for TikTok, but the lack of cloud tech backbone like MSFT/Oracle has made it unlikely. https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @mehedih_ Mehedi Hassan on x

  Will be interesting to see if this beats Microsoft's $26.2 billion for LinkedIn. https://twitter.com/...

• @mattrosoff Matt Rosoff on x

  Price likely between $20 and $30B for US and several other countries.

• @mattrosoff Matt Rosoff on x

  SCOOP: Walmart is also in the mix for TikTok buy, teaming with SoftBank, but no cloud component makes a deal unlikely, reports ⁦@sherman4949⁩ - tip ⁦@Techmeme⁩ https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @jchu Jon Chu on x

  MSFT/Walmart team is so appealing as a brand/tech/e-commerce perspective..then we have Oracle https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @llsethj Seth Weintraub on x

  This is like when Cisco bought Flip https://twitter.com/...

• @jaycuthrell Jay Cuthrell on x

  Imagine a world where a running series of @houseofbrick viral dance videos on an @Oracle owned platform result in drastically simplified commensurate licensing for application landscapes... 🤓💸☁️ https://twitter.com/...

• @mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x

  So, either the largest enterprise company is teaming up with the largest grocer to buy a video app for teens. Or a database company is going to beat them to it by offering a profit sharing agreement. Got it. https://twitter.com/...

• @alexdevkar Alex Devkar on x

  I'm dying to see the internal Oracle memos on how a TikTok acquisition makes strategic sense. Genuinely curious. https://twitter.com/...

• @yoda Drew Olanoff on x

  $20B too much. https://twitter.com/...

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  Meanwhile, Walmart is offering to make all TikTok employees part-time so they don't have to pay health insurance https://twitter.com/...