Dina Powell McCormick, the former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official who had been on Meta’s board of directors since 2017, is moving up to a senior leadership position as the Mark Zuckerberg-led American tech giant deepens its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and global infrastructure. She will be the new president and vice chairman of Meta.
Dina Powell McCormick will report to Meta’s compute and infrastructure teams and work closely with the Compute and Infrastructure organisations to oversee the company’s multi-billion-dollar investments in data centres, energy systems and global connectivity, as well as 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 founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
With over 25 years of experience in finance, national security, and economic development, Dina Powell McCormick brings expertise in leading and advising global companies as a partner at Goldman Sachs for 16 years, and in senior roles for two US presidents, including a role as deputy national security adviser to Donald Trump (during the Republican’s first Presidential stint), and a senior State Department official under George W. Bush.
Most recently, she was vice chair and president of global client services at merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners.
“Dina spent 16 years at Goldman Sachs as a partner in senior leadership roles, including serving on the firm’s Management Committee and leading its Global Sovereign Investment Banking business. During her tenure, she spearheaded some of the firm’s most influential and successful economic development initiatives, including 10,000 Women, 10,000 Small Businesses, and One Million Black Women, programs that have driven long-term economic growth and opportunity around the world,” Meta stated in a press note.
Meanwhile, Meta plans to cut around 10% of the employees in its Reality Labs division, which works on products including the metaverse, as the company shifts its priorities to build next-generation artificial intelligence.
The cuts to Reality Labs, which has roughly 15,000 employees, could be announced soon. The layoffs would be a fraction of Meta’s total workforce of 78,000, but are set to disproportionately affect those in the metaverse unit who work on virtual reality headsets and a VR-based social network.