Disney streaming executive Kevin Mayer has left the company and moved into a new role as CEO of TikTok. 

Mayer is one of the forces behind Disney's new streaming service, Disney Plus, which launched earlier this year. He left the role on Monday to assume the executive role at TikTok, as well as the COO role at the platform's parent company, Bytedance.

Speaking to The New York Times, Mayer said, “I was happy with my job at Disney, but the magnitude of this opportunity was just something I couldn’t pass up.”

Unprecedented growth 

TikTok has been growing exponentially since the turn of 2020, and has evolved to even greater heights as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The app recently hit 2 billion lifetime installs, with 315 million of them happening in Q1 2020.

And while the platform has taken the Asian markets by storm, with the highest percentage of installs and user spending coming from India and China respectively, TikTok is also making waves in the west. In the UK, TikTok is partnering with more and more brands and events, including this year's BRIT Awards. TikTok's UK GM Rich Waterworth discussed the platform's expansion plans at VidCon London, back in February.

"TikTok is genuinely changing the way people discover music," Waterworth said during a VidCon London fireside chat.

"Artists and companies across the music industry are leaning into TikTok to promote or discover new talent."