Image: © Askar/Stock.adobe.com
The UFC’s president and CEO has been appointed to the social media giant’s board of directors, alongside Exor CEO John Elkann and investor Charlie Songhurst.
Dana White, the president and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has been appointed to Meta’s board of directors.
White has been appointed alongside John Elkann, the CEO of European investment firm Exor, and Charlie Songhurst, a technology start-up investor. Other notable members of the board include Tony Xu, the CEO of DoorDash, and John Arnold, the co-founder of Arnold Ventures.
White’s appointment to Meta comes just days after former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg announced that he would be stepping down as the tech giant’s global affairs president. He will be succeeded by former Republican White House staffer John Kaplan.
White is responsible for the strategic direction of UFC’s global business, which produces more than 40 live events annually while broadcasting to 975m households across more than 170 countries. He was recently named one of the most influential figures in sports by Sports Illustrated (2023) and Sports Business Journal (2024), as well as one of the most influential executives in media by Variety (2024).
Commenting on the appointments, the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg said: “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.”
White said that he is “a huge believer that social media and AI are the future”.
“I’ve never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta’s board,” he said. “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.”
Songhurst had this to say about his appointment: “As part of Meta’s advisory group, I’ve seen firsthand the opportunities to scale new products and grow AI and enterprise capabilities, and I’m honoured to be asked to join the board to further this work.”
UFC platforms were previously embroiled in controversy after they were accused of facilitating hate speech, a claim which White has rejected. Last year, a tense exchange he had with a reporter who questioned why he allowed fighters to make anti-LGBTQ+ remarks went viral.
White himself also experienced controversy in 2023 when a video emerged of him in a physical altercation with his wife outside a nightclub.
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