In an unusual move, TikTok rival Triller has backed out of plans to make Kevin McGurn its new CEO.
“The Board of Directors of the Company previously appointed Mr. Kevin McGurn as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, to be effective as of November 18, 2024,” Triller Group said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday (November 25).
“However, Mr. McGurn will no longer join the Company as its Chief Executive Officer.”
Triller offered no explanation for the reversal.
McGurn was appointed CEO of the newly formed and publicly traded Triller Group in October. He is a veteran of Vevo, the video joint venture from Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, and previously held roles at Hulu and T-Mobile.
McGurn’s appointment (and un-appointment) comes after Triller became a publicly traded company on October 16, trading on the NASDAQ exchange.
“Mr. McGurn will no longer join the Company as its Chief Executive Officer.”
Triller Group
The company had eyed a public listing for years, making several false starts before finally landing on the stock market by way of a merger with Hong Kong-focused financial services firm AGBA.
Under the terms of the all-stock merger, Triller shareholders received 70% of the combined company’s outstanding common stock, while AGBA shareholders received 30%.
The new company, dubbed Triller Group, operates two main businesses: Triller Corp. and AGBA Group Holding Limited.
When the two companies announced their merger last April, they predicted it would be a $4 billion social media and financial services firm. However, following its first day of trading, the company’s market cap stood at $705 million.
While Triller Group has yet to announce a new CEO, earlier this month it announced that Sean Kim – a former Head of Product at TikTok US – would head up the company’s Triller app division.
Kim’s arrival marks “a pivotal moment in the company’s ongoing transformation… Sean is poised to steer Triller App toward becoming the ultimate destination for creators, fans, and brands,” the company said at the time.
Within the music industry, Triller is arguably best known for financial problems that led to non-payment of music licensing fees.
In 2022, Sony Music sued the company, alleging it had used “millions of dollars” of music without authorization. Triller and Sony settled that suit in 2023.
Triller also faced a lawsuit from Universal Music Group over unpaid music licensing fees.
In an SEC filing earlier this year, in advance of its planned IPO, Triller revealed that it owed music rightsholders $23.6 million in unpaid fees. The company, which had raised more than $420 million from investors, had less than $1 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand at the time.
As part of the merger with AGBA, Triller set aside 50 million shares of the new company to be “applied toward future settlement of certain Triller legal and financial obligations.”
At its share price as of the close of trading on November 26, those shares were valued at $184.5 million.Music Business Worldwide