Meta adds Ultimate Fighting Championship boss to board as it courts Trump
UFC chief Dana White is a key ally of the incoming U.S. president.
Moderator - Tomas Kauer Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has made another high-profile appointment to woo incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.
Dana White, president and CEO of the mixed martial arts organization Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has joined Meta’s board of directors, the company announced late Monday.
White is a key Trump ally who supported the U.S. president-elect during election campaigns, introduced him during last summer’s Republican National Convention and joined him on stage during his victory speech in November.
“I’m excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies,” White said on his Facebook page in response to his appointment.
Last week, Meta appointed Joel Kaplan, who once served as former U.S. President George W. Bush’s White House deputy chief of staff, as its chief global affairs officer — another sign that the company wants to build bridges with the incoming Trump administration.
Zuckerberg also met with Trump in November at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, and the company donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
Meta also added John Elkann, CEO of holding company Exor (which holds stakes in companies like Stellantis and Ferrari), and tech investor Charlie Songhurst to its board.
