Meta takes another step Trumpwards
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Mark Zuckerberg moved further in the direction of MAGA on Monday, when he appointed three white men, including UFC chief executive and Trump friend Dana White, to the board of directors of Meta.
Why it matters: We're a long way from 2022, when Peter Thiel resigned from the same board in order to be able to support Trump-aligned candidates.
By the numbers: After Thiel's resignation, the Meta board was 44% female — five men and four women. Today, it's 23% female — 10 men and three women.
- In terms of corporate control, of course, only one vote matters. Thanks to his Class B shares, Zuckerberg will always have the final say.
- The company did not return a request for comment on the changes.
Between the lines: Seven of the 10 men — Marc Andreessen, John Arnold, John Elkann, Drew Houston, Hock Tan, Tony Xu, and Zuckerberg himself — are billionaires.
- White might not have reached the $1 billion mark quite yet, but he's well on his way.
Driving the news: The reinvention of Facebook can be seen in the departure of liberal Democrat Nick Clegg as the company's policy head, and his replacement by prominent Republican Joel Kaplan.
- It can also be seen in the $1 million that Meta donated to a Trump inauguration fund, a donation made by many other tech companies.
The bottom line: As Axios has reported, the fate of Big Tech over the next four years depends on who has Trump's ear at critical junctures.
- Zuckerberg seems to be doing everything he can to ensure that Meta is in exactly that position.
