Mark Zuckerberg has continued his tour around America by visiting North Dakota, adding to growing speculation that he is preparing to run for president of the United States.

The Facebook founder and CEO visited the northern US state this week, writing about his experiences at a fracking community, his tour of a former goldmine, and time he spent at a cattle ranch. Mr Zuckerberg has visited a number of US states this year, going to Iowa in June and Michigan in April, and talking about his experiences visiting some of the states’ key industries.

Mr Zuckerberg, who is the world’s sixth richest man, has previously dismissed the rumours regarding his ambition to run for political office. However, a Political Action Committee (PAC) with an unclear source of funding was set up in May, with the stated aim of “convincing Mark to run for President”.

Last year Forbes reported on a proxy statement released by Facebook when it created a new class of shares meant to help ensure Mr Zuckerberg’s continued control over his company. A loophole included in the statement gives the Facebook CEO one way of leaving his company and still being able to exercise control – serving “in a government position or office”.

Were Mr Zuckerberg to run for president – and win – he would become the first Jewish occupant of the White House in the country’s history. The closest anyone has previously come to that role was when Joe Lieberman stood as Al Gore’s vice-presidential running mate in the 2000 US election.