the ostentatious display of sportsmanship also marked a defining moment in Zuckerberg’s metamorphosis to red-blooded “Maga Mark”, as the 41-year-old has been nicknamed by some at his company this year. It has been a radical makeover.

Some say he finally snapped and careered rightward after what he viewed as relentless attacks by activists, academics, the press and the Biden administration. ... In interviews, current and former staff used language such as “grieving”, “horror” and “betrayal” to describe how they felt.

To his critics, Zuckerberg runs Meta like a medieval court, where he is king. Fealty is paramount, they say. Elon Musk, in buying Twitter and stripping it of safety rails, has shifted the zeitgeist for other platforms, inspiring deep envy in Zuckerberg, according to multiple people who know him.

staff had noticed a more consuming obsession with MMA, particularly Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which is often likened to a chess game due to its focus on strategy and foresight, where fighters grapple, pinning each other into painful positions until one “taps out”, or surrenders.

"Nothing turns you into a libertarian quicker than jiu-jitsu,” Rogan would later tell Zuckerberg on his podcast."

"Trump’s bromance with Musk blew up spectacularly this month, paving the way for Zuckerberg to emerge as America’s number one “broligarch”."

Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder of the world’s largest social media company, Meta, had registered for his first official jiu-jitsu tournament under his first and middle names. He had been preparing for this moment since he got into martial arts during the Covid-19 lockdowns. In the years since, he had trained hard, hiring celebrity instructors to come to his Palo Alto mansion and his compound in Hawaii, working out each day. Now he was ready to show off the results.