Mark Zuckerberg has retained top Hillary Clinton strategist Joel Benenson as an adviser to his charity, fueling speculation that the Facebook founder and tech billionaire could run for the presidency in 2020.
Benenson’s polling and strategy group will advise the Chan Zuckerberg initiative, Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan’s foundation, on how to advance its mission of fostering human potential and equality.
But while Benenson does corporate and charitable work, he is best known as pollster to Clinton and former President Barack Obama, and the move gives new life to rumors about Zuckerberg’s presidential ambitions.
Zuckerberg’s name has been bandied about as the Silicon Valley titan makes stops in Iowa and plans this year to make a stop in every state of the union. If elected in 2020, he would be the youngest president at 37.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
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Daniel J. Solomon
Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.
Facebook’s Zuckerberg Hires Hillary Strategist Benenson