Kevin Mayer Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Naman Ramachandran Kevin Mayer, chair of live sports streaming service DAZN, has confirmed his ambitions of acquiring rights to the globally popular English Premier League (EPL) soccer championship.In May, rights to the EPL, worth £5 billion ($7 billion) remained with the existing trio of Sky, Amazon, and BT Sport and DAZN was not permitted to participate in the bidding process.Speaking at the Royal Television Society convention at Cambridge on Wednesday, the former Disney and TikTok top

Former Disney and TikTok executive Kevin Mayer invited the audience at today’s RTS Convention in the UK to pitch names for his new, still untitled media company, which is backed by investment firm Blackstone. He might want to come up with one soon, as the outfit’s high-profile acquisition drive, which has seen it secure a megabucks deal for Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, doesn’t look set to abate any time soon.

for $900 million. Hello Sunshine is the production company behind HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” and Apple TV+ series “The Morning Show” — all of which starred Witherspoon.

Westbrook Studios, the Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith company behind Telluride favorite King Richard and series Red Table Talk and Cobra Kai, has held exploratory talks with a number of potential buyers including the new venture led by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs and backed by the Blackstone Group.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaWill Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inc. could become the latest celebrity-backed media company to secure a splashy deal.

Kevin Mayer, Tom Staggs, Jeff Sagansky and Faiza Saeed will join TheWrap editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman at TheGrill 2021, presented by WrapPRO, on September 29-30. “Acquire or Die: Navigating the Era of Mega-Mergers & SPACS” will address the explosion of Hollywood mergers and the ramifications of ongoing industry consolidation.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorThe $900 million acquisition of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine by private equity giant Blackstone is a big step toward the launch of a media holding company that will revolve around the three Cs: content, commerce and community.Disney alums Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs are guiding Blackstone’s investment in content ventures and will serve as co-CEOs of the unnamed holding company that will house Hello Sunshine and other banners.

Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine chief executive Sarah Harden will join the board of the new company and will continue to operate the business.

Reese Witherspoon‘s company, Hello Sunshine, is being sold for a huge amount of money.

Reese Witherspoon’s media company, Hello Sunshine (Little Fires Everywhere), has been sold to a firm backed by private-equity giant Blackstone Group, Deadline has confirmed. Terms are not disclosed. According to the WSJ, which first reported the deal, it values the company at about $900 million.

TikTok has named a new CEO and COO, calling the moves “a strategic reorganization to optimize TikTok’s global teams and support the company’s unprecedented growth.”

James Murdoch,Kevin Mayerand Bela Bajaria,Netflix's vp global television, are among the top executives joining the speaker lineup at APOS, Asia's influential media and entertainment industry conference. Run by regional consultancy Media Partners Asia, APOS is usually held at a high-end resort in Bali, Indonesia, but the event has pivoted over the past year to a series of online gatherings better suited to the restrictions of the pandemic era.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJames Murdoch, Kevin Mayer and Bela Bajaria are among the prominent executives lining up to speak at the upcoming APOS conference on Asian media affairs.The conference is operated by consultancy Media Partners Asia and has for several years been held as an in-person event in Bali, Indonesia.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorA special-purpose acquisition corporation targeting tech, media and telecom firms led by two former senior Disney execs — Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer — raised $350 million in its upsized initial public offering.The SPAC, Forest Road Acquisition Corp. II, is led by Staggs (former Disney COO) and Mayer (previously chairman of Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer and International and briefly CEO of TikTok) who both serve as co-CEOs and co-chairs of the board.

Entertainment finance firm Forest Road has launched its second SPAC with Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs as co-CEOs and co-chairs. Units of Forest Road Acquisition Corp. II started trading today on the New York Stock Exchange as the execs begin the search for a target company in the tech, media, telecommunications or consumer space.

Former Disney streaming chief and TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer is taking on another role in the streaming world. Mayer has been named chairman of the board of directors at DAZN Group, the global streaming sports platform.

Kevin Mayer, whose long tenure at Disney culminated in the successful launch of Disney+, is joining sports streaming outfit DAZN as chairman.

SEC filing Thursday night. Mayer and Staggs will serve as co-CEOs of this SPAC, with O’Neal as a special advisor.For the SPAC formed last year (Forest Road Acquisition Corp.) Mayer serves as a strategic adviser and Staggs as director and chairman of the Strategic Advisory Committee.

Former Disney and TikTok executive Kevin Mayer is exploring a deal to roll up several independent media and entertainment companies,including Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings and Ben Silverman’s Propagate Content,sources with knowledge of the talks tell The Hollywood Reporter. Blackstone is financing the venture and is expected to invest a minimum of $2 billion as part of an expansion of its media and entertainment holdings, says a knowledgeable source.

Began hearing this last week, but the drums are beating louder that Scooter Braun is in early discussions to sell his business, Ithaca, to former Disney and Tiktok honcho Kevin Mayer, who has backing through Blackstone. This is one of three offers being mulled.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorDisney alums Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs are in the early stages of shopping for content companies to roll up into a larger operating company with backing from private equity giant Blackstone.

Entertainment finance firm Forest Road and a team of A-list media insiders from Tom Staggs to Kevin Mayer have closed a $300 million IPO of a new SPAC – a special purpose acquisition vehicle they’ll use to buy a private company in media, tech or telecom.

The Punisher. Bernthal received critical acclaim for his performance in the Netflix series, which was unfortunately cancelled after just two seasons back in February, 2019.Since then, Craig Erwich, who is the senior Vice President of originals over at Hulu, has teased that the streaming service would be interested in bringing the show back, while Disney’s Kevin Mayer had even said there was a chance that Disney+ might bring back the Marvel show, too. During his recent interview on the Geek House

Also Read: Inside the 'Mulan' Flameout in China and Why Hollywood Can't Seem to Bridge the Culture GapFormer DTC head Kevin Mayer had previously warned the company would most likely never release viewership info. Nielsen Data released last month said the film was viewed for an estimated 525 million minutes in the U.S.

Kevin Mayer, the former Walt Disney exec who recently resigned as CEO of TikTok amid the threat of a ban over the popular social media app, has been named a senior media adviser for Russian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik's Access Industries. The move puts Mayer, a former chairman of Disney's direct-to-consumer business, at a company with significant media and entertainment sector investments.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorKevin Mayer, who spearheaded Disney’s pivot to direct-to-consumer streaming and briefly served as TikTok’s CEO, has joined billionaire Len Blavatnik’s investment company Access Industries as a senior media adviser.Blavatnik has stakes in Warner Music Group, which recently had a successful IPO, as well as sports streaming service DAZN and music and audio streaming outlet Deezer.Mayer, who had been in talks with private equity firm RedBird Capital, will focus on Access’

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorKevin Mayer, previously a top Disney executive and — briefly — CEO of TikTok, has joined Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries investment firm as a senior adviser, focusing on the media sector.Mayer, who worked at Walt Disney Co. for more than two decades and steered the launch of Disney Plus a year ago, will focus on Access’ strategic media-related businesses and identify new opportunities across media, entertainment and telecommunications sectors.

a filing with the SEC, Mayer will serve as a strategic advisor, Staggs will be director and chairman of the Strategic Advisory Committe and Salil Mehta, another former Disney executive, will be the Chief Financial Officer.O’Neal will also be a strategic adviser, as will producer Mark Burg.

a filing with the SEC, Mayer will serve as a strategic advisor, Scaggs will be director and the Chairperson of the Strategic Advisory Committee, and Salil Mehta, another former Disney exec, will be the Chief Financial Officer.O’Neal will also be a strategic adviser, as will producer Mark Burg, and Martin Luther King III will be a director.Also Read: Behind Kevin Mayer's Sudden Exit From TikTok: Bad Fit, Reputation FearsThe special-purpose acquisition company (or SPAC) plans to raise $250 million

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorThere’s a SPAC born every minute – today a new one called Forest Road Acquisition registered with the SEC to raise $250 million and hunt for media and entertainment deals with executives and advisors from former TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer and former Walt Disney CFO Tom Staggs to basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal.SPACs, or special purpose acquisition vehicles, proliferate when there’s more money floating around than there are places to invest for various reasons —

Recently departed TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer is in advanced talks to join investment firm RedBird Capital, according to a source familiar with the situation. The move would put Mayer, formerly chairman of Disney's direct-to-consumer business, at a company that has made investments across the sports, media and entertainment sectors.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorA new TikTok Global would file for an initial public offering in the U.S. in about a year under a plan still awaiting approval by President Trump that would see Oracle and Walmart as major investors in the video sharing app, according to reports Thursday.TikTok is said to have approached Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom about becoming CEO following the departure of Kevin Mayer, according to news reports.

When Kevin Mayer left his big job running Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming business in mid-May, it was because he had an even bigger job to look forward to: one that would involve running fast-growing social video app TikTok while serving as COO of its $100 billion parent company, ByteDance. But during his first three months as TikTok CEO, the app became a pawn in President Trump’s battle with China.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNeedless to say, this isn’t how Kevin Mayer expected his bold career move to go.Mayer, after just three months on the job as TikTok’s CEO and chief operating officer of Chinese parent company ByteDance, said Wednesday that he is resigning amid the tumultuous geopolitical climate battering TikTok — led by Donald Trump’s anti-China agenda — which ultimately will force ByteDance to sell the TikTok app business in the U.S. (and likely other countries).

TikTok is going through another major shakeup.

Dominic Patten Senior Editor, Legal & TV CriticLess than four months after leaping over from the Walt Disney Company, Kevin Mayer has resigned as the CEO of TikTok.“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,” Mayer wrote today to staff at the ByteDance controlled short video-sharing app.