UFC boss Dana White joining Meta’s board of directors
UFC CEO Dana White has been appointed to Meta's board of directors, joining John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed that their expertise will aid in addressing opportunities in AI and wearables. White, who has previously shown reluctance to join boards, is enthusiastic about contributing to Meta's growth and learning from the company. This move may also signal Zuckerberg's intent to improve relations with President-elect Trump, as both have had past interactions.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO and president Dana White will join Meta’s board of directors, the social media company announced Monday.
White is part of a trio of new additions to the Meta board, alongside John Elkann, CEO of Exor and chairman of Stellantis and Ferrari, and tech investor Charlie Songhurst.
“Dana, John and Charlie will add a depth of expertise and perspective that will help us tackle the massive opportunities ahead with AI, wearables and the future of human connection,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
The three businessmen join Zuckerberg, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, DropBox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston, Broadcom president and CEO Hock Tan and DoorDash co-founder and CEO Tony Xu on the board, among others.
“I’ve never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta’s board,” White said in a statement. “I am a huge believer that social media and AI are the future.”
“I am very excited to join this incredible team and to learn more about this business from the inside,” he continued. “There is nothing I love more than building brands, and I look forward to helping take Meta to the next level.”
The UFC head is a longtime friend of President-elect Trump. He joined Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November to watch the election results roll in and spoke alongside the Republican candidate on stage after he declared victory.
“Nobody deserves this more than him, and nobody deserves this more than his family does,” White said at the time.
Zuckerberg, who has long had a rocky relationship with Trump, appears keen to mend fences with the president-elect as he returns to office. The Meta CEO visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November, and his company later donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Other tech leaders have taken a similar approach. Amazon also gave $1 million to the inaugural fund, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dished out the same amount from his personal wealth.
