Mark Zuckerberg is sad. “Culturally neutered” companies, a category that apparently included Meta until last week, have sought to distance themselves from good “masculine energy”, he says. But those days are over now. “I think having a culture that, like, celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive.”
Don’t worry, Zuckerberg still spares a thought for women. He’s married to a woman. Also, he has three sisters and three daughters, he makes sure to mention, because just the fact of having female family members always humanises a man. Everyone knows that the more usefully related women a man can cite, the more immunity he gains should accusations of sexism fly in his direction.
Not that they are. The billionaire began his tech career by rating the attractiveness of women at Harvard, but it would be a mistake to assume he lacks empathy.
“I do think that if you’re a woman going into a company, it probably feels like it’s too masculine. It’s like there isn’t enough of the kind of energy that you may naturally have,” he says.
Tragically, as he then explains, corporate culture has swung to thinking masculine energy is something to “get rid of” completely – an erasure he only realised was happening after he took up jiu-jitsu.
He’s right, of course. Masculine energy has all but disappeared from the workplace. Maybe it’s because men haven’t been leaning in enough? But it’s not their fault. The world just isn’t celebrating “the aggression” enough right now. Aggression has a bad press.
As for the direct equation of aggression with masculine energy, well, those were Zuck’s words not mine. As a woman, it wouldn’t be the kind of energy I naturally have to say something a man might perceive as criticism.
Zuckerberg has had a lot to say lately, and not just because he found himself on Joe Rogan’s podcast again. It’s called The Joe Rogan Experience, because it is one. You don’t slide behind the mic on The Joe Rogan Experience and expect a quick in-and-out job. It’s the best part of three hours or nothing. It’s a proper man’s podcast.
Radiating manly stamina is not compulsory on Rogan – occasionally, he even has women guests – but it does help. It helps, too, if you’ve got literal fighting talk in your conversational arsenal. A little obsession with mixed martial arts (MMA) here, a passion for hunting invasive pigs in Hawaii there.
That’s because Rogan, an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) commentator before he became a podcaster, is a key narrator in the MMA-MAGA universe, and Zuckerberg is the newest member of the gang.
Let’s remind ourselves of some of the protagonists here, starting with Dana White, the UFC chief executive and freshly installed Meta director. White has been hanging out with president-elect Donald Trump forever now. At an ally-stuffed post-election UFC fight in New York in November, the man hailed by Zuckerberg as an “amazing entrepreneur” was joined by disinformation spreader-in-chief Elon Musk as they formed the bread in a Trump sandwich.
Hollywood power-player Ari Emanuel, the Democrat donor who was once Trump’s agent, also rocked up. He’s the boss of Endeavor, the majority shareholder in sports media behemoth TKO Group, which since a 2023 merger has been the owner of both UFC and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
This brings us on to former wrestler and ex-WWE boss Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee to lead the US department of education – to where, exactly, is unclear – and her estranged husband, Vince McMahon, who resigned as TKO Group executive chairman in January 2024 to spend more time with his lawyers.
He still has a sexual assault and trafficking lawsuit to fend off, though he has just settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges brought over some “minor accounting errors”, aka undisclosed hush money payments to two women.
I’m glossing over some of the flashpoints and factional nuances within this politico-entertainment complex because, to be honest, I haven’t been keeping track of them. Still, it will surprise no one that TKO Group is super-keen to do business with the kings of masculine energy, Saudi Arabia.
Its other imminent bonanza is the UFC’s next US television rights negotiation, given its current deal with Disney-owned ESPN is happily set to expire at the end of 2025.
This one is going to be mega. Lots of people love UFC. Even more importantly, Trump loves White, and lots of media and tech bosses want Trump to love them. Someone like, say, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could easily be moved to throw about sufficient billions to snatch the rights off naughty-step occupants Disney and make Prime Video the home of UFC.
That’s not to say that Netflix is out for the count. This time last year, it splurged “in excess of $5 billion” for decade-long rights to weekly three-hour WWE show Raw. Competing hard for UFC could be its next big swing.
Meanwhile, the other key line from Zuckerberg’s podcast foray is that he still wants to do a professional MMA fight “at some point”. Back in 2023, after Musk challenged him to a cage fight, the Facebook founder “offered a real date”, only to conclude from Musk’s excuses that he wasn’t “serious” and it was “time to move on”.
But is it? That gap in the inauguration entertainment schedule isn’t going to fill itself. A livestreamed MMA-White House crossover event, with Rogan commentating, is the obvious answer. A newly sworn-in Trump could enjoy a great old smirk as Musk and Zuck try their luck at gladiatorial combat, the winner getting Canada.
True, Musk might be reluctant, but the Meta mogul would surely embrace this unique opportunity to give masculine energy the global celebration it deserves.
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