UFC President and CEO Dana White has joined Meta’s Board of Directors.
Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has added three new members to its board to start 2025, including White. Alongside the UFC exec, John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst have been elected to the company’s Board of Directors.
News of the additions was announced via a press release on Monday. White has had something of a relationship with Meta/Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in recent years, including setting up a “private” Fight Night event for the tech bigwig in 2022. Throughout 2024, he suggested turning to Zuckerberg for an AI solution to the UFC’s rankings woes.
White, who convinced high school chums the Fertitta brothers (Lorenzo and Frank, known as the powers behind Station Casinos/Red Rock Resorts) to purchase the UFC in the early 2000s, has mostly stuck to MMA over the course of his career, and recently launched Dana White’s Power Slap. At age 55, he’s branching out.
“I’ve never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta’s board. I am a huge believer that social media and AI are the future,” Dana White was quoted as saying in Monday’s press release. “I am 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.”
White’s fellow incoming board members appear more familiar with the tech world: Elkann is CEO of Exor, a European investment firm, and Executive Chair of Ferrari and Stellantis. Songhurst formerly served as GM and Head of Global Corporate Strategy for Microsoft.
“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 was quoted as saying in Monday’s released.
