I want to be close to Trump...Zuckerberg Appoints UFC President Meta Director

UFC CEO Dana White, who is considered a close aide to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, has been appointed as a director of Facebook's parent company Meta.

According to CNN on the 6th local time, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that he has appointed three new directors, including CEO White, to Meta's board of directors.

"We have huge opportunities on the horizon regarding the future of artificial intelligence (AI), personal wearable devices and social media," Zuckerberg said, explaining that the newly appointed directors will help realize their goals.

Charlie Songhurst, who was appointed Meta director along with White, is an investor specializing in AI and other technologies, while John Elkann is the successor to the Italian car tycoon Anelli family.

Apart from White, the founder of the US MMA, the two new directors are business leaders with a reputation for Meta-related technology.

The general interpretation is that White's name on the 13-member Meta board is due to Zuckerberg's desire to improve his relationship with Trump.

During the 2020 presidential election, Trump is known to have a perception that Zuckerberg, a Democratic-leaning party, conspired to win his election.

This is why Trump has been so explicitly hostile to Zuckerberg that he said he should spend the rest of his life in prison.

For this reason, Zuckerberg worked hard to improve relations by visiting his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, for a meeting with Trump after last year's presidential election.

Zuckerberg then donated $1 million (about 1.45 billion won) to Trump's inauguration committee and promoted Joel Kaplan, a Republican who maintains close ties to the Trump administration, to Meta's global head of policy.

Analysts say that White's appointment as a meta director was also made in this context.

White is considered the closest member of the group of close aides, including accompanying Trump to his campaign schedule during last year's presidential election.

"I'm excited to play a small role in the future of AI and new technology," White said on his Instagram account.