Dana White, President and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), is stepping out of the octagon and into the tech boardroom. On Monday, it was announced that White would be joining Meta’s board of directors.
Meta is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp.
‘I’ve never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta’s board. Iam a huge believer that social media and AI are the future,’ said White.
White isn’t the only one excited for his new venture. Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his own statement that he believes White 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.’
Has White ventured into tech before?
No. This will be White’s first step into the world of social media and AI, but he is a huge fan of what Meta is trying to accomplish.
‘I am very excited to join this incredible team and to learn more about this business from the inside,’ White said. ‘There is nothing I love more than building brands, and I look forward to helping take Meta to the next level.’
Outside of UFC though, White has struggled to find similar success in his other ventures. In 2021, White served as an executive producer on the short-lived surfing show The Ultimate Surfer, which was canceled after one season due to low ratings. More recently, White co-founded a slap fighting competition called Power Slap, which aired on TBS in 2023. Much like The Ultimate Surfer, it did not last. TBS did not renew their deal with White, and now the competition streams exclusively on the platform Rumble.
Of course, those failures pale in comparison to the massive success of UFC. Much of that success has been due to White’s role managing the company’s global business, an expertise that will be invaluable to a company like Meta operating on a similar worldwide scale. White’s influence in sport speaks for itself. In 2023, he was named one of Sports Illustrated‘s most influential figures; in 2024, he was given similar honors from Sports Business Journal and Variety.
Who else joined White on Meta’s board of directors?
White was not the only addition to Meta’s board of directors. Alongside White comes Exor CEO John Elkann and tech investor Charlie Songhurst.
Who is on Meta’s board of directors?
Meta now has 13 board members:
Mark Zuckerberg
Peggy Alford
Marc L. Andreessen
John Arnold
John Elkann
Drew Houston
Nancy Killefer
Robert M. Kimmitt
Charlie Songhurst
Hock E. Tan
Tracey T. Travis
Dana White
Tony Xu
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