- Meta Platforms is further boosting its lineup of heavy hitters with the additions of Stripe CEO Patrick Collison and Dina Powell McCormick to the mix. Powell McCormick was a notable advisor to Trump during his first term and she joins as CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to be adding boots on the ground in Washington, D.C.—including his own. The founder reportedly just purchased a house in the tony Woodland Normanstone neighborhood with his wife, Priscilla Chan.
Meta Platforms on Friday announced that it had elected Patrick Collison and Dina Powell McCormick to the tech giant’s corporate board of directors, effective April 15.
The announcement comes as Meta prepares to fight a landmark challenge from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission next week in an antitrust lawsuit over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
Collison is the co-founder and CEO of financial-services platform Stripe, and Powell McCormick is a veteran global finance executive and former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump during his first term. Powell McCormick also previously served as assistant secretary for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the George W. Bush administration. She and Collison will join Trump ally and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White at Meta.
“Patrick and Dina bring a lot of experience supporting businesses and entrepreneurs to our board,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement. “Patrick is deeply committed to expanding economic opportunity, and Dina has a long career advocating for economic development and supporting entrepreneurs. Their perspective will be extremely valuable to businesses that rely on our services to grow.”
Meta’s billionaire cofounder, along with other high-profile tech and venture capital CEOs, has boosted his presence in Trump’s orbit during the second presidential term, which has included dining with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and trips to the White House. Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan paid $23 million for a 15,000-square-foot brick-and-limestone estate in Washington, D.C.
Collison and Powell McCormick, vice chair of merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners, are the latest additions to Meta’s board, which now stands at 15 corporate directors, and includes a broad skills mix of tech, finance, strategy, and even more political connections and savvy. The company elected three new directors in January including former Microsoft corporate strategy leader and tech investor Charlie Songhurst; Exor CEO and executive chair of Ferrari and Stellantis John Elkann; and, UFC CEO White. The trio joined the board four months ago.
Other members include Andreessen Horowitz cofounder Marc Andreessen, who has described himself as an “unpaid intern” of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Notably, the board also includes Ambassador Robert Kimmitt, who is senior international counsel at law firm WilmerHale and co-chairs its crisis management and strategic response group.
WilmerHale is one in a constellation of law firms that have been the subject of executive orders from the Trump White House as the president has sought out firms with ties to his political opponents. The orders have prompted multiple law firms to bargain with the administration and Trump on Friday announced he had struck deals with five more law firms for a combined $600 million in legal services, the Washington Post reported.
However, WilmerHale and law firm Jenner & Block—both targeted with executive orders—have sued the Trump administration in response. On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union announced a bevy of legal advocates had filed two amicus briefs asking the court to strike the orders targeting the firms in support of WilmerHale and Jenner & Block.
Despite the friction between the Trump administration and Kimmitt’s firm, however, Trump has commended White. On Thursday, Trump revealed that White called and told the president one of the UFC fighters had a personal relationship with Ksenia Karelina, a U.S.-Russian dual citizen and ballerina who was sentenced to prison in Russia but was swapped in a prisoner exchange for German-Russian citizen Arthur Petrov.
“Dana is an incredible guy and we spoke to President [Vladimir] Putin about it and they made a deal,” said Trump on Thursday. “They released the young ballerina and she is now out and that was good.”
Meanwhile, Meta lawyers will be in court next week battling the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The company has said evidence will show the acquisitions were not harmful to consumers. Zuckerberg is reportedly expected to testify.
Meta, the White House, and WilmerHale did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
