Meta welcomes 3 new members to board. One is Ultimate Fighting Championship boss

This comes at a time when the political leaning of Meta's board seems to be in transition after the victory of Trump in the US elections

Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as well as an ally to Republican candidate and the new US President-elect Donald Trump, will be joining Meta's board of directors, the company announced on Monday, January 7, 2025.

“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."

He further added that he was "very excited to join this incredible team and to learn more about this business from the inside. There is nothing I love more than building brands, and I look forward to helping take Meta to the next level."

This comes at a time when the political leaning of Meta's board seems to be in transition, according to a Business Insider report.

For example, Nick Clegg, a former leader of the UK's Liberal Democrats party and Meta's ex-president of global affairs left the company earlier this month, being replaced by Joel Kaplan, who is currently the company's vice president of global public policy and one connected to the Republican party.

White has been a close ally of Trump, with the pair regularly having been spotted together at events going all the way back to 2001.

Trump has also appeared at multiple UFC matches and White has spoken at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Republican conventions.

This change in Meta's leadership is also in stark contrast to the years of conflict seen between the company and Trump, with Meta banning Trump in 2021 for what the company claimed as praising "people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6."

Trump then sued Facebook, Google, and Twitter, along with their CEOs, accusing them of unlawfully censoring him.

However, despite his accounts being reinstated two years later, Trump had continued to publicly attack the platforms along with founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

This all changed with Meta since pledging $1 million to Trump's presidential inauguration fund upon his victory.

Meta also included John Elkann, the CEO of Exor, which is one of the largest European investment companies, and also 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,” Zuckerberg said.