Meta has tapped Wall Street executive Dina Powell McCormick to be president and vice chairman, the company said Monday, deepening its push to add Republican-aligned advisers to its roster as it implements an ambitious artificial intelligence agenda that could face regulatory scrutiny around the world.
Powell McCormick, who served as deputy national security adviser to President Donald Trump during his first term, will help shepherd the company into the next stage as it transitions from a mostly social-media-focused business to one seeking to be a leader in the global AI race. The social media giant added that Powell McCormick, who spent 16 years at Goldman Sachs as a partner in senior leadership roles, will guide the company’s multibillion-dollar data center strategy as well as focusing on building “new strategic capital partnerships.”
“Dina’s experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her uniquely suited to help Meta manage this next phase of growth as the company’s President and Vice Chairman,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement announcing the hire.
Powell McCormick will be coming into a company tackling major business changes, particularly as it seeks to catch up to AI rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Meta has committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars by 2028 on building data centers in the United States — an expensive investment that Zuckerberg has said is worthwhile to help the company’s drive to build “superintelligence” — a term for machines hoped to one day outperform humans in every way. The company is building new foundational AI models while implementing its existing AI technology into other consumer products from its smart glasses to its social media networks.
Powell McCormick also served as a senior White House adviser and assistant secretary of state under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the administration of President George W. Bush. More recently, she was vice chair and president of global client services at the band BDT & MSD Partners.
“I think it’s a home-run hire from Meta exactly at the right time,” Dan Ives, a technology analyst with Wedbush Securities. “You’re talking about a rock star executive that will significantly help Meta in its AI strategy as it pivots from just a social media company into something a lot bigger.”
“She’s someone that [has] close ties to the administration that could only help Meta just from that perspective, and she’s extremely respected within the industry. She’s a strategic thinker,” he added.
Powell McCormick’s ties to Trump and other Republicans may also help the company smooth over any regulatory issues associated with its AI or social media business. The company’s data centers have faced pushed back in local communities that are worried about rising energy costs, while states have passed a raft of laws seeking to limit potentially negative impacts of AI on society. Meanwhile, the company continues to face scrutiny over how its social media networks affect the well-being of young people.
Trump praised Meta’s announcement on Monday on Truth Social. “A great choice by Mark Z!!! She is a fantastic, and very talented, person, who served the Trump Administration with strength and distinction!” he wrote.
Powell McCormick is one of several Trump-aligned hires Meta has made over the past year. In early 2025, Meta tapped longtime Trump ally Dana White, a friend of Trump and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, to join its board of directors. The company also brought in its top Republican lobbyist, Joel Kaplan, to replace Nick Clegg as the leader of its policy shop.
Meanwhile, the company also rejiggered its personnel as it invested in AI. Last year, Meta announced it was making a $14.3 billion investment in AI start-up Scale AI and then brought in Alexandr Wang, who founded the start-up, to lead the company’s AI division. Yann LeCunn, Meta’s former chief AI scientist, announced in November he was planning to leave the company after 12 years. In April, Joelle Pineau, who worked at Meta for about eight years, announced that she was leaving her post leading the Meta AI research lab FAIR.
Powell McCormick’s hiring also brings another senior woman into a leadership position more than three years since the departure of Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg in 2022 after helping Zuckerberg turn his viral site into the world’s most profitable social network. Sandberg was one of Zuckerberg’s most trusted deputies, and people often spoke of the two informally as “co-CEOs.” When she left and was replaced by Javier Olivan, Zuckerberg said he didn’t plan to incorporate the full responsibilities Sandberg held into one position. Zuckerberg has faced internal criticism for scrapping DEI programs and comments he has made about diversity.
“Ever since Sheryl left there’s been a void,” Ives said. “A company like Meta that’s changing so dramatically — they’re gonna go through leadership changes.”
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