With US President Donald Trump expected to announce his decision about the proposed TikTok-Oracle deal in the next 24 hours, the viral video platform has reportedly approached Instagram co-founder, Kevin Systrom, to take over as the company’s CEO. That’s according to The New York Times, which says that Systrom came into the fray after TikTok’s last chief, Kevin Mayer, left the company in August after just three months on the job. TikTok’s US general manager, Vanessa Pappas, has been the acting CEO since Mayer’s resignation.
The report further says that TikTok and Systrom have already held ‘preliminary’ talks about the possible appointment, although a final decision is yet to be made. The move is being seen as yet another way for TikTok’s current parent, ByteDance, to appease US authorities, who insist that the platform must have an US national at the helm to continue operations in the country. That being the case, Systrom could be an ideal choice for the company, given that he is an US citizen with in-depth understanding of the social media scene.
To get you up-to-date on the ever-evolving TikTok saga, ByteDance this week decided to pick Oracle over Microsoft as its preferred partner to sell its US operations. The proposed deal has been confirmed by both parties, but it remains to be seen whether the US President will sign-off on it. As part of the deal, TikTok’s US data will be stored in Oracle’s cloud servers within US boundaries, which should satisfy national security hawks in Washington D.C.
