In a shock transfer, UFC chief Dana White will be a part of the board of administrators of Meta Platforms Inc, the tech big that owns Fb, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — an avid blended martial arts fan — introduced the addition of White and two different board members, John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst, Monday.
“Dana, John and Charlie will add a depth of experience and perspective that may assist us deal with the large alternatives forward with AI, wearables and the way forward for human connection,” Zuckerberg mentioned in an announcement.
In a put up on Fb, Zuckerberg mentioned that he had been engaged on add the nw board members for some time, and of White he wrote that “I’ve admired him as an entrepreneur and his skill to construct such a beloved model.”
“I’ve by no means been interested by becoming a member of a board of administrators till I bought the supply to hitch Meta’s board,” White added in an announcement. “I’m an enormous believer that social media and AI are the long run.”
“I’m very excited to hitch this unimaginable crew and to study extra about this enterprise from the within,” he added. “There’s nothing I really like greater than constructing manufacturers, and I look ahead to serving to take Meta to the following stage.”
White joins John Elkann, the CEO of European funding agency Exor, and the manager chairman of Ferrari, and Charlie Songhurst, a veteran know-how investor, on the board.
Zuckerberg and White are pleasant, with the Fb founder an occasional visitor at UFC matches. Zuckerberg has additionally skilled with UFC fighters, and competed in native MMA bouts in California.
White can be very shut with incoming President Trump, who Zuckerberg and different tech moguls have tried to forge a relationship with forward of his second time period.