UFC CEO Dana White has spent a year and a half watching Mark Zuckerberg operate from inside the boardroom, and his read on the man running Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) is worth noting. On the Rodeo Time Podcast with host Dale Brisby late last year, White said, “I just got back from the Meta board meeting. Zuckerberg, who is a brilliant gangster, this guy is a gangster. These people who try to talk about him and everything else… I’m so blown away and impressed by this guy. He’s an animal.”
White followed with the punchline every Meta shareholder should be paying attention to: “He’s putting all the chips in on AI. We just hired like 10 kids that are aged 22 to 28. The average salary is like 65 million dollars that these kids are making that are coming and working on AI.”
A Killer’s Endorsement
In a June 2026 TIME Magazine interview, White expanded on the theme. “I like killers. I like Michael Jordan, I like Tyson. You know, I like Carl Icahn and these type of guys. And Mark Zuckerberg might be the biggest killer I’ve ever met in my life,” he said, adding that Zuckerberg “is deeply involved in the details of his company and is constantly looking to take things to the next level.”
Zuckerberg’s side of the story landed on The Joe Rogan Experience in January 2025, when he explained his push to add White to the board. He wanted “the best entrepreneurs,” called what White built with the UFC “one of the most legendary business stories,” and said White “has a strong backbone.” White’s own statement on the appointment was blunt: “I’ve never been interested in joining a board of directors until I got the offer to join Meta’s board. I am a huge believer that social media and AI are the future.”
The All-In AI Bet
White’s enthusiasm is a conviction call on Zuckerberg, and the numbers behind it are substantial. Meta has guided 2026 capital expenditures of $125 billion to $145 billion, a step change from roughly $70 billion in 2025 and about $37 billion in 2024. The company launched Meta Superintelligence Labs and released its first model in Q1 2026, with Zuckerberg telling investors, “We’re on track to deliver personal superintelligence to billions of people.”
The business is funding the ambition. 2025 revenue reached about $201 billion, up from roughly $164.5 billion in 2024. Q1 2026 revenue climbed 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion, with EPS of $10.44 versus a $6.66 consensus, though $3.13 of that came from an $8.03 billion tax benefit tied to Treasury guidance. The Q1 2026 8-K lays out the mechanics. Family of Apps reached 3.56 billion daily active people, and ad impressions rose 19% year over year with pricing up 12%.
The UFC Playbook Goes Inside Meta
White’s influence is showing operationally. In April 2025, UFC named Meta its “Official Fan Technology Partner” in a multi-year deal that includes 180-degree VR streaming of events via Horizon Worlds and Xtadium on Meta Quest, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses capturing first-person walkout and weigh-in footage, and Meta AI powering a revamped UFC fighter rankings system that replaces the old media voting panels.
The Stock Reality Check
META trades around $672.70 today. Since White joined the board in early January 2025, the stock is up roughly 5.4%. Over the trailing year it is down about 8%, and it is roughly flat year to date in 2026. Wall Street remains constructive, with 49 Buy ratings, 8 Strong Buys, and an average price target of $828.34 against a forward P/E near 21.
White’s “brilliant gangster” framing is a bet on the operator, with performance still to be proven. Meta is spending like an AI hyperscaler while its core ad engine funds the whole thing, and Reality Labs still bleeds about $4 billion a quarter. The conviction case rests on Zuckerberg turning that capex into durable earnings power over the next several years. For readers weighing the story, that is the trade-off to study before drawing any conclusions. Nothing here is investment advice.
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