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A former Twitter exec explains why ‘Zuck isn’t running for President’

In a viral tweetstorm, former Ticketmaster CEO and Twitter VP Nathan Hubbard lays out a convincing case.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg driving a tractor Facebook

If you pay even a little attention to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, you’ve heard about his yearlong project to travel around the United States, which plenty of armchair observers have claimed is him getting ready to run for political office.

Facebook has repeatedly denied this, though not everyone believes it. The political rumor mill started turning again this week when Zuckerberg used Facebook Stories to praise the early-caucus state of Iowa and its pork tenderloin sandwiches.

But today in a viral tweetstorm, Twitter’s former media/commerce boss Nathan Hubbard laid out a convincing case for the real reason behind this tour.

“Zuck woke up on Nov 9th acutely aware that FB had facilitated a new shift he didn't foresee or understand,” wrote Hubbard, whose LinkedIn page indicates he’s now working on a “stealth” new company. “That's terrifying to a founder.”

He called the idea of Zuckerberg running for president “silly,” saying instead it’s more plausible that the U.S. tour reflects the Facebook CEO’s long-held “ruthless survival instinct.” Hubbard did, however, close with the hashtag #Sheryl2020 — meaning Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who also denies she’s running.

Here’s the full tweetstorm:


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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