- D. Trump ally and UFC boss Dana White joins the board of Meta Corporation
- In November, Zuckerberg had dinner with Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate
- D. Trump has been a fierce critic of Meta and Zuckerberg in recent years
D. Trump ally and UFC boss Dana White joins the board of Meta Corporation
Social networking giant Meta unveiled three new members of its board of directors on Monday, including Dana White, CEO of martial arts organization Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump.
The new board members were introduced to Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta Corporation, who has, among other things, donated one million dollars to Trump's inauguration fund in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the new President's administration.
In November, Zuckerberg had dinner with Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate
After the presidential election, the forty-year-old tycoon is trying to repair his company's relationship with the future US leader.
Moreover, to ingratiate himself with the Trump team, Joel Kaplan, a loyal member of the Republican Party, was appointed head of public affairs at Meta Corporation, replacing former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in that position.
D. Trump has been a fierce critic of Meta and Zuckerberg in recent years
D. Trump has accused the company of supporting liberal policies and being anti-conservative.
Following the riots outside the US Senate chamber on 6 January 2021, Trump was banned from Facebook, but his account was reinstated in early 2023.
White has had a close relationship with Trump for a couple of decades and their friendship dates back to when Trump offered to host UFC events at his properties.
"I was never interested in being a board member until I was asked to join the board of Meta Corporation. I firmly believe that social networks and IoT are our future," said White.
Alongside Mr White, John Elkann, CEO of Exor, and Charlie Songhurst, former co-chief executive of Microsoft, are the new members of Meta's board. The Meta Board will now have 13 members.
Mr Elkann, who comes from the Agnelli family of Italian industrialists, is also Executive Chairman of the automotive giant Stellantis and of Ferrari.
The new board members were introduced when Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, increasingly focused on artificial intelligence and wearable technology.
"The expertise and opinions of Dana, John, and Charlie will help us seize the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead in AI, wearables, and human communications," said Meta's CEO Zuckerberg in a press release.
Based on ELTA reports
