Meta announced the appointment of three new board members including Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO and close ally of Donald Trump, Dana White.
It comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to be making efforts to mend ties with Trump ahead of the US president-elect’s inauguration this month.
A few days ago, former deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Nick Clegg, left his job as the head of global affairs at the social media giant.
Other new members of Meta’s board include John Elkann, who heads the European investment firm Exor, and Charlie Songhurst, a former Microsoft executive.
“Dana, John and Charlie will add a depth of expertise and perspective that will help us tackle the tremendous opportunities ahead [artificial intelligence]wearables and the future of human connection,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a statement.
The social media giant also praised Mr White’s role in turning the UFC into a global business.
In a post on Meta’s Instagram, Mr White said he loved social media and was “excited to be a small part of the future [artificial intelligence] and emerging technologies.”
Mr. White is known as an outspoken advocate of free speech.
A year ago, his tense conversation with a reporter who asked him why he allowed fighters to make anti-LGBT statements went viral.
“People can say what they want and they can believe what they want,” Mr. White countered.
The UFC boss has had a close relationship with Trump for decades.
Mr White’s appointment follows news that Sir Nick has been replaced at Meta by his deputy, prominent Republican Joel Kaplan, who managed relations between the social media company and the Republican Party.
There has been an apparent thaw between Meta and Trump in recent months.
Relations have been chilly at least since Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram after the January 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
In August, Trump wrote in a book that Zuckerberg would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to interfere in the 2024 US election.
But the president-elect later softened his stance, saying in a podcast in October that it was “nice” that Mr. Zuckerberg “stayed out of the election” and thanking him for a personal phone call after he faced an assassination attempt.
Zuckerberg visited Mar-a-Lago and dined with Trump after his election victory in November. Earlier this month, he donated $1 million (£800,000) to the president-elect’s inauguration fund.
