UFC chief Dana White, a staunch Trump supporter, joins Mater's board of directors

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Three new directors have been elected at Meta Platforms Inc., and one of them is powerful Donald Trump supporter

UFC CEO Dana White joins Matter board, as CEO Mark Zuckerbergwho retains chairmanship and majority voting control, bringing in someone who has been one of the most influential executives in sports and media for some time.

And it's worth noting that White has been on the campaign trail with the president-elect this past year, speaking at rallies and accompanying a crew including Elon Musk to UFC fight rights over the past few years.

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Dana White speaks to the crowd

Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship, on the final day of the Republican National Convention against Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Introduced Trump. (IMAGN / IMAGN)

White expressed his excitement to join the Mater board in a statement at X.

“I love social media,” he wrote. “And I'm excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies.”

Also joining Meta's board are former Microsoft Corp. executive Charlie Songhurst, who already works with the company on artificial intelligence products, and Exv NV CEO John Elkann. Elkann's company has stakes in many European businesses, including Ferrari NV and Italy's popular soccer team, Juventus Football Club.

UFC, IBM team to develop advanced fight analytics engine using WatsonX

“Charlie, Dana and John will add a depth of expertise and perspective that will help us address the enormous future opportunities of AI, wearables and human connectivity,” Zuckerberg, 40, said in a statement. via Bloomberg.

White also shared Zuckerberg's words in his X post, where the latter praised the former for building “one of the most valuable, fastest-growing and most popular sports enterprises in the world.”

“I admire him as an entrepreneur and his ability to build such a beloved brand,” Zuckerberg added.

Zuckerberg continues to build Matter's board, which now has 13 members. In recent years, he has also brought in DoorDash CEO Tony Xu and Dropbox CEO Drew Houston.

Mark Zuckerberg talks to Dana White

UFC CEO Dana White and Mark Zuckerberg attend the UFC 300 event at T-Mobile Arena on April 13, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Jeff Bottari/Jufa LLC via Getty Images)

The reason for the change across the board revolves around Artificial Intelligence and Meta's shift of focus towards the Metaverse.

As White adds, he has a relationship with Zuckerberg because of the Facebook co-founder's love of mixed martial arts.

Zuckerberg has been seen working through jiu jitsu and other fight styles in the past, with notable UFC fighter Like Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovsky.

Now, White's connection to Trump has become prominent because of Trump's past criticism of Meta. However, Zuckerberg and Trump have been working on their relationship, as they had dinner at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in November.

White said he was “never interested in joining the board of directors,” but the offer from Meta was something he jumped at.

UFC CEO Dana White greeted the crowd

UFC CEO Dana White at the weigh-in for UFC Fight Night at Amalie Arena. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / IMAGN)

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“I'm a huge believer that social media and AI are the future,” said White at X. “I'm excited to join this incredible team and learn more about this business from the inside. There's nothing I love more than building brands, and I look forward to helping Meta take it to the next level.”

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