Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., gestures as he speaks during a session at the Techonomy 2016 conference in Half Moon Bay, California, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016.

Axar.az reports that, Mark Zuckerberg has no plans to run for president, the Facebook founder and CEO told BuzzFeed News Tuesday.

"No," Zuckerberg wrote 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. 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 in January.

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.

"There's absolutely no truth to the idea that Mark is running for office and I've heard it directly from him," the source told BuzzFeed News. "Here's the thing: For Mark, Facebook is global community that already plays this huge part in the lives of billions of people around the world and plays an incredibly important role in shaping the base on the issues that matter."

Zuckerberg is preparing for a political battle, the source was careful to emphasize, but as a private citizen focused on the goals he has already outlined through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. "There is absolutely a possibility that Mark may choose to play a stronger role in the political system and political debates," the source said. Zuckerberg has been "very transparent" in his advocacy for "greater equality and optimizing research that find cures for disease and solves the fundamental problems of our time, but I really don't see him stepping away from Facebook."