Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Dana White, UFC, MMA
Ryan Smart
UFC boss Dana White has been appointed to a shock new job role - and it has already paid off.
White, who is the CEO and President of the UFC, played a key role in setting up the MMA organisation back in 2001 after successfully convincing business executive Lorenzo Fertitta to acquire the company.
Now, the 55-year-old has been appointed to a new role in a totally separate company.
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Meta - the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - has appointed White as one of three new board members.
The other new members are John Elkann, who is the chief executive of the Exor company that has a holding stake in Ferrari, and former Microsoft executive Charlie Songhurst.
In a statement, White said he is 'excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies'.
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Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said: "Dana, John and Charlie will add a depth of expertise and perspective that will help us tackle the massive opportunities ahead with AI, wearables and the future of human connection."
On White's business expertise in building up the UFC over nearly 25 years, Zuckerberg added: "Dana is the President and CEO of UFC, and he has built it into one of the most valuable, fastest-growing, and most popular sports enterprises in the world.
"I've admired him as an entrepreneur and his ability to build such a beloved brand."
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At the closure of the stock market on Monday, Meta's share price stood at $630.20, while its market capitalisation stood at $1.59 billion.
The share price jumped up to as high as $631.70 following Meta's announcement, though anyone wanting to capitalise on that increase would have had to have acted quickly.
The share price has dipped down to $611.59 at the time of writing, hours after the US stock market opened on Tuesday.