Meta literally added muscles to its boardroom when it announced that Dana White, President and CEO of UFC, the mixed martial arts organisation, was elected to the company’s board of directors along with John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst.
White, who had dreams of becoming a professional boxer as a teenager, set up one of the biggest brands in the world, mixing sports and entertainment. White is responsible for the overall strategic direction of UFC’s global business, which employs over 600 people across five continents.
His company now conducts over 40 live events, including in Abu Dhabi, which is broadcast to over 975 million households across more than 170 countries.
Elkann is the CEO of Exor, one of the largest European investment companies, controlled by the Agnelli family. He is also the Executive Chair of Ferrari and Stellantis. Elkann joined Fiat Group2003, and along with CEO Sergio Marchionne, led the successful turnaround of the business. He formed Exor in 2009.
Its portfolio is principally made up of companies in which it is the largest or reference shareholder, such as Ferrari, Stellantis, CNH, Philips, Christian Louboutin, Juventus Football Club and The Economist Group.
Songhurst is a technology investor who currently invests in more than 500 startups globally. He was previously General Manager and Head of Global Corporate Strategy at Microsoft, focused on partnerships and M&A. As part of this role, he led the Yahoo and Skype acquisitions.
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Meta, commented: “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 is a recreational mixed martial arts fighter, who was planning to get into a cage fight with Elon Musk in 2023, before the whole thing was called off in August.
White, 55, added: “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.
“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 is a close friend of President-elect Donald Trump, and is said to have played a role in patching up the relationship between him and Zuckerberg. Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were banned by Meta following the Capitol riot in January 2021.
Zuckerberg recently praised Trump and also called him up after last year’s assassination attempt.
Follow us on
