Disney Streaming Chief Kevin Mayer is leaving his post as the head of Disney’s streaming efforts to become the CEO of the short form video app TikTok. This was announced in a company statement. He will also become the COO of TikTok’s owner, Byte Dance.

“Kevin has had an extraordinary impact on our company over the years, most recently as head of our direct-to-consumer business,” said Disney CEO Bob Chapek in a statement.

At Byte Dance, Mayer will be responsible for “driving the global development of Byte Dance, as well as overseeing corporate functions including corporate development, sales, marketing, public affairs, security, moderation, and legal,” according to a press release issued by Byte Dance. “In his role as COO, Kevin will lead music, gaming, Helo, emerging businesses, and will serve as CEO of TikTok, leading the rapidly growing platform as it continues to build its global community of creators, users, and brands.” His new assignment starts at Byte Dance on June 1st.

Mayer’s biggest achievement at Disney was leading the development of Disney Plus, the company’s streaming service that launched in November. Mayer also helped orchestrate Disney’s four major acquisitions alongside former CEO Bob Iger: Pixar, Lucas film, Marvel Studios, and 21st Century Fox.

In his new role at TikTok, Mayer will have the tough job of shepherding one of the most popular apps around and keeping it competitive against other social media giants like Facebook and Snapchat. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to join the amazing team at Byte Dance,” Mayer said in a statement. “Like everyone else, I’ve been impressed watching the company build something incredibly rare in TikTok – a creative, positive online global community – and I’m excited to help lead the next phase of Byte Dance’s journey as the company continues to expand its breadth of products across every region of the world.” Mayer’s role at Disney will be taken over by Rebecca Campbell, who has been named chairman of Disney’s direct-to-consumer efforts.

TikTok, which allows users to create short videos with special effects, has become wildly popular with U.S. teenagers doing viral challenges that pair dances with music clips from the app’s library. TikTok has hinted at ambitions to build a music streaming business, announcing in January that it was partnering with U.K.-based music rights agency Merlin to expand its musical selections. The company uses sophisticated artificial intelligence to make video recommendations based on users’ behavior on the app.

Source- The Verge