Kevin A. Mayer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kevin A. Mayer
Born1962
United States
Alma materBSME, MIT; MSEE, San Diego State University; MBA, Harvard University
OccupationBusiness executive
EmployerDAZN Group[1][2]
TitleChairman of DAZN; former CEO of TikTok; former COO of ByteDance; former senior executive at The Walt Disney Company and subsidiaries

Kevin A. Mayer (born 1962) is an American business executive who is the chairman of DAZN Group. He also serves as co-chairman and co-CEO of Forest Road Acquisition Corp II and as a senior advisor to Forest Road Acquisition Corp. He was CEO of TikTok and COO of its parent company ByteDance Ltd in 2020. Mayer is the former Chairman of the Direct-to-Consumer & International division of The Walt Disney Company. He was previously the senior executive vice president and chief strategy officer of Disney where he led their acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, BamTech, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox.[4] He also directed the divestitures of Miramax and ABC Radio.

Early life and education[]

Mayer earned a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a master of science in electrical engineering from San Diego State University, as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School.[5]

Business career[]

In 1993, Kevin Mayer began working at The Walt Disney Company handling strategy and business development for Disney's Interactive/Internet and television businesses worldwide. He was later promoted to head the Disney Internet group as executive vice president.[5]

Mayer was then named Chief Executive Officer of Playboy.com, the digital subsidiary of Chicago's Playboy Enterprises in February 2000.[6][7]

In September 2000, Mayer left Playboy and was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel Interactive, a division of Clear Channel Worldwide. He served in that position until December 2001.[8]

He joined L.E.K. Consulting as a partner and head of the global media and entertainment practice in February 2002.[9]

Mayer rejoined The Walt Disney Company as Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Business Development, and Technology in June 2005, then was designated in October 2005 as an executive officer.[9] Mayer was involved with the purchases of BamTech Media,[10] Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, Club Penguin and Maker Studios, as well as its agreement reached in December 2017 to acquire most of the 21st Century Fox assets.[4] In 2010, he arranged the sale of Miramax to Filmyard Holdings.[11]

In March of 2018, Mayer was named chairman of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International, a new segment division, to head Disney's global streaming business, ad sales and distribution and the media and studio operations of the company.[4][12] Mayer led the successful launches[13] of Disney+ in 2019 and of ESPN+ in 2018, and led Hulu after Disney acquired majority ownership in 2019.[14][15]

In May of 2020, Mayer resigned from The Walt Disney Company to become COO of Chinese internet technology company ByteDance Ltd and CEO of its popular social media app TikTok.[16] On August 26, Mayer announced that he would step down from both roles and leave ByteDance altogether, three months after taking the position.[17][18] His decision was reported by the New York Times as due to the sharp changes in the political environment in which ByteDance was ordered to sell its U.S. operations by the Donald Trump administration,[19] effectively eliminating the role Mayer had accepted, though the "imminent" sale was subsequently halted by the Chinese government, and White House attention to it waned.[20]

In October 2020, he and Tom Staggs, also formerly of Disney, led the founding of Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Forest Road Acquisition Corp.[21] The company began public trading on November 25, 2020 (NYSE:FRX),[22] having raised over $300 million in capital,[23] and having been joined by Shaquille O'Neal, Mark Burg, Martin Luther King III, and others.[24][25] In February 2021, Forest Road Acquisition Corp. entered a 2.9 billion agreement to merge with Beachbody and Myx Fitness Holdings.[22][26][27] On February 18, 2021, the company filed for an IPO for a second SPAC, Forest Road Acquisition Corp II (NYSE:FRXB), of which Mayer and Staggs will be co-chairs and co-CEOs.[20][22] The new consumer-facing technology, media and telecommunications SPAC raised $350 million during its IPO.[20][28]

In November 2020, Mayer joined Access Industries as a senior advisor. In March 2021, he was named chairman of the board of directors of its subsidiary DAZN Group, parent company of DAZN, a global sports streaming platform[29] most active in European and Asian markets.[20] On November 3, 2021, he became as a consultant of Discovery's streaming services.[30]

References[]

  1. ^ World Boxing News
  2. ^ Hollywood Reporter
  3. ^ https://wallmine.com/people/45240/kevin-a-mayer
  4. ^ a b c Spangler, Todd (March 14, 2018). "Disney Reorganizes Divisions, Creates Dedicated Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Unit". Variety. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Lee, Allen (20 November 2019). "20 Things You Didn't Know About Kevin Mayer". moneyinc.com. Money Inc. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  6. ^ Rachel Emma Silverman, Rachel (February 22, 2000). "Playboy's Online Unit Names Mayer, Formerly With Go Network, as CEO". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  7. ^ "The Walt Disney Company Announces Leadership For New Corporate Strategy, Business Development & Technology Group". The Walt Disney Company. 2005-06-30. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  8. ^ "Clear Channel Names Kevin Mayer Chairman and CEO of Internet Group". Playbill. September 4, 2000. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Kevin A. Mayer Profile". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  10. ^ Bursztynsky, Jessica (18 May 2020). "TikTok nabs Disney's streaming boss to be its new CEO". CNBC. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  11. ^ Solman, Gregory; Weinstein, Joshua L. (December 9, 2010). "Disney deals". Variety. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  12. ^ Spangler, Todd (9 November 2020). "Kevin Mayer, Former Disney Exec and TikTok CEO, Joins Len Blavatnik's Access Industries". Variety. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  13. ^ Nicolaou, Anna (6 December 2020). "Disney faces digital dilemma despite streaming success". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  14. ^ Schwartzel, Erich (9 November 2019). "Can Kevin Mayer Deliver the Future of Disney?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  15. ^ Warren, Katie (20 May 2020). "Meet TikTok's new CEO Kevin Mayer, the former Disney executive who's behind the explosive growth of Disney Plus and has the nickname 'Buzz Lightyear'". Business Insider. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  16. ^ Barnes, Brooks (2020-05-18). "Disney's Head of Streaming Is New TikTok C.E.O." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  17. ^ Choudhury, Saheli Roy (2020-08-27). "TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer to leave the company". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  18. ^ Ray, Siladitya. "TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Exits As Company Faces Threat Of Ban In U.S." Forbes. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  19. ^ Isaac, Mike (27 August 2020). "TikTok Chief Executive Kevin Mayer Resigns". New York Times. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  20. ^ a b c d Sherman, Alex (17 March 2021). "Kevin Mayer talks about his disappointing departures at Disney and TikTok, and the long decline of pay TV". CNBC. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  21. ^ Franklin, Joshua (18 February 2021). "Former Disney executives Mayer and Staggs plan new SPAC - source". Reuters. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  22. ^ a b c Palmeri, Christopher (18 February 2021). "Former Disney Executives Turn Into L.A.'s Hottest Dealmakers". Bloomberg. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  23. ^ Thompson, Simon (7 November 2019). "Forest Road And The Multimillion-Dollar Art Of Maximizing Film Tax Credits". Forbes. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  24. ^ Weprin, Alex (8 October 2020). "Former Disney Execs Tom Staggs, Kevin Mayer Teaming With Shaquille O'Neal on Media/Entertainment SPAC". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  25. ^ Flint, Joe (8 October 2020). "Shaq, MLK's Son, Former Disney Executives Team Up to Create SPAC". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  26. ^ Sozzi, Brian (10 February 2021). "Why TikTok's former CEO Kevin Mayer wants to challenge Peloton". Yahoo. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Fitness firms Beachbody, Myx to go public via $2.9 billion SPAC deal". Reuters. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  28. ^ Spangler, Todd (12 March 2021). "SPAC Led by Ex-Disney Execs Kevin Mayer, Tom Staggs Raises $350 Million in IPO". Variety. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  29. ^ Weprin, Alex (3 March 2021). "Former Disney, TikTok Exec Kevin Mayer Tapped as DAZN Chairman". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  30. ^ Slazai, Georg (3 November 2021). "Discovery CEO Says Kevin Mayer Joining as Streaming Consultant Amid WarnerMedia Merger". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
Retrieved from ""