Meta has appointed three new members to its board of directors, including Dana White, the president and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship and a familiar figure in the orbit of incoming President Donald Trump.
The social media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is also adding auto tycoon John Elkann and tech investor Charlie Songhurst, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post late Monday.
Tapping White to join the board could be seen as Zuckerberg’s latest maneuver to improve ties with Trump, who was once banned from Facebook. After Trump won re-election in November, Zuckerberg dined at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Other Big Tech companies such as Amazon have donated similar amounts.
Trump is a longtime UFC fan and frequent attendee of major fights.
His ties with White date back to 2001, when White hosted a …