Meta hires former Trump adviser to focus on Middle East deals

• Dina Powell McCormick an ally of Trump
• Helped sign $200bn Saudi deals
• Meta role to focus on AI

Meta has hired Dina Powell McCormick, a former banker and Middle East dealmaking veteran, to focus on cross-industry partnerships.

It announced it had hired Powell McCormick this week, citing her “experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world”.

An Egyptian-born former banker, Arabic-speaking Powell McCormick has a history of helping the US make deals in the Middle East.

Powell McCormick will focus on partnering with governments and sovereigns to build, deploy, invest in and finance Meta’s AI and infrastructure, the technology company said.

“She will drive an effort to build new strategic capital partnerships and find innovative ways to expand our long-term investment capacity,” it added.

Large US technology companies including Microsoft, OpenAI and Amazon have made eye-catching investment deals with Gulf-based sovereign wealth funds in recent years. Many of those deals focus on building out AI infrastructure such as data centres in the US and Gulf.

Powell McCormick is a former partner at US investment bank Goldman Sachs, where she worked for 16 years, including leading its Global Sovereign Investment Banking business. She also worked in the US Department of State, again with a focus on the Middle East.

She later took up a role as an economic adviser in the first presidency of Donald Trump.

Powell McCormick is thought to be a close ally of Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump’s daughter, after the two worked together on women’s programming, according to CNN. 

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She met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman alongside other US officials including the husband of Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner. She was also part of US efforts to secure $200 of Saudi Arabian investment in the US according to CBS.

In a review of the Trump presidency’s business dealings with the Gulf, Politico noted the importance of Powell McCormick’s role. The website has also reported on her contribution  alongside Jared Kushner in coordinating a $110 billion US arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

Powell McCormick is married to Republican senator for Pennsylvania Dave McCormick.