Mark Zuckerberg positioning with UFC president Dana White throughout a UFC Fight Night occasion.
Jeff Bottari|Ufc|Getty Images
Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and a long time pal of President-elect Donald Trump, is signing up with the board of Facebook moms and dad Meta 2 weeks before the brand-new Trump administration starts.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who had an especially tense relationship with Trump throughout the president-elect’s very first term in workplace, stated in a Facebook post Monday that White has actually constructed the UFC “into among the most important, fastest growing, and most popular sports business on the planet.”
“I’ve appreciated him as a business owner and his capability to develop such a cherished brand name,” Zuckerberg stated in the post.
Zuckerberg has actually been practicing combined martial arts over the last few years and has actually gone to a number of UFC occasions, highlighting his interest for the fight sport.
In 2023, Zuckerberg tore his ACL throughout a sparring session as part of training for a competitive MMA battle. That year, Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk traded spoken barbs and showed that they wanted to combat each other in a match that White would assist produce. Zuckerberg later on stated the battle was off since Musk wasn’t “severe.”
White appeared with Trump onstage on election night in November after the success remained in hand.
“This is what takes place when the maker follows you,” White stated, after being presented by Trump. “What you’ve seen over the last numerous years, this is what it appears like. Could not stop him, he keeps moving forward, he does not stop, he’s the most resistant hardworking guy I’ve ever satisfied in my life.”
Last month, Meta verified that the business had actually contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Zuckerberg was likewise among numerous tech executives who went to Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, following the election.
White, who has actually led UFC because 2001, ended up being involved in debate 2 years earlier after a video released by TMZ revealed him slapping his other half at a New Year’s Eve celebration in Mexico. White released a public apology, and his better half, Anne White, released a declaration to TMZ, calling it a separated event.
Musk has actually had his own connections to UFC in the current past. In 2021, Musk signed up with the board of Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor Group, which owns the UFC through TKO Group Holdings. He left a year later on.
Other brand-new members of Meta’s board consist of John Elkann, the CEO of Italian holding business Exor, and previous Microsoft head of business technique Charlie Songhurst, Zuckerberg stated.
Elkann is chairman of Exor’s vehicle business Stellantis and Ferrari, while Songhurst has actually invested the previous year on Meta’s advisory group assisting the business with its expert system and innovation techniques, Zuckerberg included.
“We have huge chances ahead in AI, wearables, and the future of social networks,
