Disney+ 
Candle Media 
TikTok 
Kevin Mayer says that the investment strategy at Candle Media, the hard-charging entertainment startup that he heads with Tom Staggs, is product of his career time at Disney and TikTok.While those two companies are behemoths and Candle Media a newcomer, the claim is not as outlandish as it seems.At Disney, Mayer was largely responsible the launch of the direct-to-consumer streaming businesses that became Disney+. And as Disney, Pixar and other group content was made exclusive and contained within a walled...
Candle Media
Kevin
Mayer
Co-Founder / Co-CEO
A former Disney exec and TikTok CEO, Mayer co-founded his company with Tom Staggs in 2021 to acquire Reese Witherspoon’s prodco Hello Sunshine, but they didn’t stop there. Backed by Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm, Mayer and Staggs took Candle on a buying spree, acquiring kids content maker Moonbug, Faraway Road Productions (best known for the Israeli TV show “Fauda”), lifestyle brand the Home Edit, Spanish-language prodco Exile Content Studio, One Animation and Web3 studio Notables, along with a majority stake in the NFT franchise Lil’ Heroes. They also invested in Westbrook Inc., Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s company. At the same time, the chairs built out Candle’s senior leadership team with hires that include Brent Weinstein and Salil Mehta as chief development officer and chief financial officer, respectively.
