Dana White has announced that he is moving into a new career role as he takes a spot on the Meta board of directors.
The famed UFC boss has joined up with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg after a lengthy friendship that even at one point included talks of a potential fight deal with Twitter boss Elon Musk. It was announced last night that White was joining the board alongside two new hires.
Zuckerberg has been an avid fight fan for years, training in jiu-jitsu and even eyeing up an MMA fight under the training of PFL star Khai Wu. And he has been spotted at a number of UFC events, even cornering Alexander Volkanovski last year.
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Dana White joins Meta board of directors
Last night, Meta confirmed in a statement that three new members had been elected to its board of directors. UFC boss Dana White was the most prominent name, joining Charlie Songhurst and John Elkann.
“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,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
Songhurst is a former Microsoft boss and has been a long-time investor in Meta, which owns Instagram and Whatsapp as well as Facebook. Meanwhile Elkann is CEO of Exor, which is a holding company with major interests in Ferrari and Christian Louboutin.
Dana White speaks on why he has signed up with Meta
A key factor in Dana White’s decision to join the Meta board is his love of Artificial Intelligence, which is being invested in heavily by Zuckerberg and his team. He has previously called for the Facebook founder to help him solve the UFC rankings with an AI system to replace the current media panel.
“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 press release as part of yesterday’s announcement. “I am a huge believer that social media and AI are the future.
“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.”