Cannes Lions 2010 names Mark Zuckerberg as Media Person of the Year

The 57th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival has named Mark Zuckerberg (25), founder and CEO of Facebook as the Media Person of the Year. The award aims to honour a prominent personality who is an influential figure in the development of today's media landscape, ultimately playing an integral part in shaping the future of the advertising industry.

“Cannes Lions Media Person of the Year is awarded to those who have changed the face of media and communications, usually after a lifetime of achievement. For Mark Zuckerberg to have created one of the internet’s most dominant businesses so quickly, and to have had such a global impact on the way we all communicate with each other, is quite simply astonishing. We are delighted to honour him with this award,” said Philip Thomas, Cannes Lions CEO.

“We are still in the early stages of our mission to build things that make the world more open and connected, so I feel honoured and humbled to receive this award in recognition of what we've accomplished so far," said Zuckerberg. "We will continue to innovate and push technical boundaries to create better ways for people, developers, and advertisers to connect and share on our platform.”

Zuckerberg will be honoured during the Press, Cyber and Design Lions Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 23 June, in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes. Delegates will have the opportunity to listen to Mark Zuckerberg when he presents the Facebook Seminar on Wednesday 23 June.