Disney's (DIS  ) head of streaming, Kevin Mayer, is leaving the company to become CEO of TikTok, and COO of its parent organization ByteDance. Mayer's biggest achievement at Disney was the development and successful debut of Disney+.

Following its November launch, the streaming platform already has 50 million subscribers which give the company another way to monetize its massive content library. Mayer was also involved in expanding Disney's content base with acquisitions of Marvel Films, LucasFilms, Pixar, and 21st Century Fox. Disney+ gives Disney a source of steady revenue and growth that can offset weakness from cable and broadcast TV. In the future, it can also be a way to launch its own products directly to consumers and bypass other distribution networks.

Disney's Stock

Disney's stock has been a winner on multiple timeframes. The company has a strong franchise, wide moat, and has continued to deliver above-average growth rates. Further, the public seems to have an insatiable demand for its products with little price sensitivity.

As an example, the company is slowly reopening its theme parks and is already selling out of tickets. During the coronavirus crash, its stock dropped 40% but has recovered half of these losses. In the first quarter of this year, Disney's revenue grew by 20% from the first quarter in 2019, while the S&P 500 (SPY  ) grew around 4%. However, its only slightly more expensive than the S&P 500 with a price to earnings ratio of 25.

Some portion of this growth has to be attributed to Mayer, and he was a finalist to take over as CEO following former CEO Bob Iger's retirement due to his leadership in areas driving revenue growth. However, the company ultimately chose Bob Chapek who was the head of Disney's theme parks. Therefore, Mayer's departure wasn't a surprise, but it was a surprise that the company chose Chapek who headed Disney's slower-growing theme parks division.

TikTok Role

At TikTok, Mayer will be tasked with continuing the app's rapid growth, leading monetization efforts, and ward off well-funded competitors like Facebook (FB  ) or Snapchat (SNAP  ). For TikTok, Mayer brings experience in scaling up the product and industry connections.

TikTok has had its share of controversy given that ByteDance is headquartered in China. The app was launched in 2016 in China as a social network to share short bite-sized videos. In 2017, it was launched in the U.S. and currently has 30 million active users with 97% growth expected in 2020. It was also the most downloaded app globally in 2019 and has 800 million users worldwide.