Dana White, the head of UFC and an ally of President-elect Donald Trump, has joined the board of Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
The announcement was made Monday.
“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,” White continued. “There is nothing I love more than building brands, and I look forward to helping take Meta to the next level.”
Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook and Meta, said he was “excited” to bring White’s addition on the board.
“Dana is the president and CEO of UFC, and he has built it into one of the most valuable, fastest growing, and most popular sports enterprises in the world,” he said. “I’ve admired him as an entrepreneur and his ability to build such a beloved brand.”
White has endorsed Trump in all three if his presidential runs — in 2016, 2020, and 2024.
He also stood alongside Trump when he gave his victory speech in the most recent election.
This is the latest move by Zuckerberg to apparently get in Trump’s good graces.
After the election, he donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
Zuckerberg also hired Joel Kaplan, a former Bush White House deputy chief of staff.
John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst were also chosen to serve on the board, according to Facebook.
Elkann is the CEO of Exor and Songhurst is a technology investor who is currently more than 500 startups globally.
