Meta has appointed former Trump administration adviser Dina Powell McCormick to a newly created executive leadership position, underscoring the tech giant’s determination to accelerate its crackdown on the intelligence infrastructure.
The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp said Powell McCormick will join the company as president and vice chairman, with a charge that includes global strategy, government engagement and financial collaboration, with a focus on funding and growing Meta’s big AI ambitions.
The appointment comes just weeks after Powell McCormick stepped down from Meta’s board, a move that surprised investors given he had joined less than a year earlier. He will now report directly to Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company confirmed.
In a statement, Zuckerberg said Powell McCormick’s background made him uniquely suited for the role. “Dina’s experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep global relationships, makes her ideally positioned to help Meta navigate this next phase of growth,” he said.
Meta has emerged as one of the most aggressive investors in AI infrastructure as it chases rivals like OpenAI, Microsoft and Oracle to develop powerful systems. The company is building several gigawatt-scale data centers across the United States, including a flagship site in Louisiana that was highlighted by former US president Donald Trump and is expected to cost up to $50bn.
Zuckerberg has pledged to spend up to $600bn on infrastructure in the coming years and has begun raising tens of billions of dollars in external financing to support the plan. Meta also attacked the long-term energy relationship, positioning itself as one of the biggest companies buying nuclear power to meet AI’s massive electricity needs.
Powell McCormick will play a key role in securing and managing those financial relationships. He brings more than three decades of experience in global finance, including 16 years at Goldman Sachs, where he led the global private equity investment banking business. Most recently, he served as president and head of global client services at investment firm BDT & MSD Partners.
He is expected to remain on the advisory board of BDT and MSD following the move to Meta.
His appointment also reflects Meta’s growing relationship with government as AI processing, data centers and energy use grow. Powell McCormick served as deputy national security adviser during Trump’s first term and held senior roles in the George W. Bush administration. Her husband, Dave McCormick, is currently a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly.
Meta’s move comes amid stiff competition in AI infrastructure, with rivals including Elon Musk’s xAI, which recently announced a $20bn data center capacity expansion near Memphis, and OpenAI-backed projects seeking to reshape the world’s computing power.
