Meta announced the addition of three new directors to its board, including UFC President & CEO Dana White, Exor CEO John Elkann, and technology investor Charlie Songhurst, bringing the total number of board members to 13.

White, who leads the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), expressed his first-ever interest in joining a corporate board. “I’ve never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta’s board,” White said in the announcement. Meta noted that under his leadership, the UFC has grown to broadcast in over 975 million households across more than 170 countries.

Songhurst brings experience as a former General Manager & Head of Global Corporate Strategy at Microsoft, where he led the Yahoo and Skype acquisitions. He currently invests in more than 500 startups globally, focusing on enterprise SaaS, AI, and deep tech.

Elkann, who serves as CEO of Exor and Executive Chair of Ferrari and Stellantis, adds global business leadership to the board. Exor maintains significant shareholdings in Ferrari, Stellantis, CNH, Philips, and The Economist Group.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder & CEO, cites the appointments as strategic moves to tackle opportunities in AI, wearables, and social connection. The expansion comes as Meta intensifies its focus on AI and emerging technologies.

Policy Leadership Changes

The appointments coincide with broader changes at Meta. 

Nick Clegg, the company’s President of Global Affairs and top policy executive, recently announced his departure, passing leadership to his deputy, Joel Kaplan. Kaplan, who held several key positions in President George W. Bush’s White House, including Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy before joining Meta in 2011, was described by Clegg as “clearly the right person for the right job at the right time.”

These leadership changes come as Meta positions itself for engagement with the incoming Trump administration. 

Zuckerberg has expressed interest in taking an “active role” in tech policy conversations with the new administration, having met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago following the election. Meta has also donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. 

In recent years, Meta has modified some of its election-related content moderation policies, including allowing users to post claims of voter fraud and political ads questioning the 2020 election outcome. The tech giant lifted restrictions on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in July last year before the 2024 election, citing the need for equal standing between presidential nominees as the primary reason for this decision.

In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg stated that the Biden administration had “pressured” Meta to “censor” content during the pandemic.

Employees Voicing Concerns?

Internal response to White’s appointment has generated mixed reactions among Meta employees, according to reporting by 404 Media. 

On Meta’s internal Workplace platform, some employees responded positively with comments like “Major W” and playful speculation about future UFC connections, including jokes about hiring former UFC champion Conor McGregor for “after-work sparring” and suggestions that “Joe Rogan may be next.”

However, other employees have raised concerns about White’s appointment, particularly regarding a past incident involving the businessman being caught on video in a domestic violence incident at a nightclub. 

Meta’s HR team has reportedly been removing internal employee criticism of White’s appointment from the Workplace platform, including posts questioning why such criticism is being deleted. 404 Media notes that this internal moderation co-occurs with Zuckerberg’s public announcement that Meta will “get back to our roots around free expression.”

Some employees have expressed broader concerns about the company’s direction, with one commenting that they were “disheartened” by the celebration of the appointment, while another suggested that Meta “must have done their due diligence on White and concluded that what he did is fine.” A third employee wrote, “We have completely lost the plot.”