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Meta has announced the appointment of three new board members including Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) executive and close friend of Donald Trump, Dana White.
The move comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to be trying to mend relations with Trump, ahead of the US president’s inauguration this month.
A few days ago former deputy prime minister of the UK and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Nick Clegg resigned from his position as global president of the major media group.
Other new members of Meta’s board are John Elkann, who heads the European company Exor, and Charlie Songhurst, a former Microsoft executive.
“Dana, John and Charlie add deep expertise and perspective that will help us tackle the big opportunities that lie ahead. [artificial intelligence]wearables and the future of human communication,” Zuckerberg said in a statement.
The social media giant also praised Mr White’s efforts in turning the UFC into a global business.
Writing on Meta’s Instagram, White said he loves social media and is “excited to be a small part of the future of [artificial intelligence] and new technologies.”
Mr White has previously rejected any suggestion that UFC platforms are hostile to speech, insisting he supports free speech.
A year ago his heated exchange with a reporter who asked why he was allowing veterans to speak out against LGBT people went viral.
“People can say whatever they want and they can believe whatever they want,” White said.
The UFC boss has had a close relationship with Trump for years.
Mr White’s appointment follows news that Sir Nick has been replaced at Meta by his deputy, prominent Republican Joel Kaplan, who oversees relations between the media company and the Republican Party.
There has been a thaw between Meta and Trump in recent months.
The relationship was the fifth since Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram following the riots at the US Capitol in January 2021.
In August, Trump wrote in a book that Zuckerberg “will spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tries to interfere in the 2024 US election.
But the president-elect later softened his position, telling a podcast in October that it was “good” that Mr. Zuckerberg was “getting out of the election,” thanking him for calling him after the assassination attempt.
Mr Zuckerberg visited Mar-a-Lago and dined with Mr Trump after he won the election in November. Earlier this month, he donated $1m (£800,000) to the president-elect’s fund.
