On Tuesday, Meta announced that Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), will join its board of directors. This move strengthens Meta’s ties to the incoming Republican administration. Dana White is a long-time friend of Donald Trump, the new president-elect, and he supported Trump at various Republican conventions.
Just days earlier, Meta promoted Joel Kaplan, a key Republican policy executive, to lead global affairs, replacing Nick Clegg. The company also brought in former Microsoft executive Charlie Songhurst and John Elkann, the CEO of Exor, which is linked to big European brands like Ferrari.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, is friends with Dana White because they share an interest in mixed martial arts. In 2023, White even tried to set up a cage match between Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla and SpaceX, but Musk never went through with it due to an old injury.
These changes at Meta are seen as efforts to prepare for Trump’s second term as president. The company’s platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, have faced criticism from Republicans for supposedly censoring conservative voices. Many of Trump’s supporters want to hold Meta accountable.
In recent weeks, Zuckerberg met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s resort in Florida, to congratulate him on his election win. Zuckerberg has also said he regretted some past decisions that upset conservatives and praised Trump’s response to certain events. Many tech leaders, like Tim Cook from Apple and Sundar Pichai from Google, are also trying to build good relationships with Trump as they anticipate changes in government.
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