Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg addresses rumours of 2020 US presidential run

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has addressed rumours that he will run for the US presidency in 2020.

“No,” Zuckerberg told BuzzFeed News in response to a question about his intent to run. “I'm focused on building our community at Facebook and working on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative,” referring to the limited-liability corporation he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, founded in 2015 to advance human potential and promoting equality through major bets in education and science research.

But Zuckerberg did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about whether he'd explicitly ruled out a run.

Zuckerberg's response comes after weeks of speculation from the tech press and beyond, set off by a series of events that indicated a run might be in the cards, including a pledge to visit the approximately 30 US states he hadn't yet been to. “Will Mark Zuckerberg Be Our Next President?” Vanity Fair asked on January 13.

The clues were there. Zuckerberg, who had previously been described as an atheist, said over the holidays that he believes religion is important. He's touring the US asking “folks” about how they live. He hired a former White House photographer to take his Facebook pics. He included a clause about potentially serving for office into Facebook's stock restructuring deal, and he hired a former presidential campaign manager to help his quasi-charitable works.

But as Zuckerberg indicated Tuesday, he's more interested in wielding influence from Menlo Park than Washington, DC. A source close to Zuckerberg told BuzzFeed News the 32-year-old CEO has privately denied it as well.