Zuckerberg, other tech moguls celebrate Trump’s birthday at White House UFC match

Big names in Silicon Valley were in attendance at the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House lawn to celebrate President Donald Trump’s birthday.

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On Sunday, Trump transformed the South Lawn of the White House into an MMA fighting ring to celebrate his 80th birthday. The event was widely attended by athletes, celebrities and major names in tech to see marquee fighters Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje duke it out in the ring. 

“The UFC at the White House last night was incredible,” the president said in a Truth Social post early Monday.

David Ellison, CEO and chairman of Paramount Skydance, was spotted at the celebration. UFC fights exclusively air on Paramount+, but Ellison’s appearance also caps a close relationship that the CEO has been fostering with Trump for another reason. On Friday, the Justice Department announced it would not challenge Paramount’s $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. 

Most notably, Mark Zuckerberg sat cage-side during the event. The Meta CEO was joined by UFC CEO Dana White, who is also on Meta’s board of directors. In March, Trump named Zuckerberg as a member of his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The two were spotted greeting each other before the event. 

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian was also there. Unlike other big names in tech, Ohanian hasn’t gravitated to the president’s orbit. In April, he criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies at the annual Digital Patriots Dinner while being inducted into the Consumer Technology Association’s CT Hall of Fame.

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Previously, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose relationship with Trump has oscillated over the past year, was set to attend the event, according to TMZ. But fresh off the June 12 IPO of SpaceX, where the now-trillionaire is CEO, it’s unclear whether he attended. Several celebrities who were rumored to be invited, including Adam Sandler, Guy Ritchie, Tom Brady, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Mario Lopez, declined or skipped the president’s birthday bash.