The Jewish computer-genius who founded Facebook from his college bedroom has been named as the Time Magazine Person of the Year.

Mark Zuckerberg, 26, joins other Jewish winners of the prestigious award, including US politician Henry Kissinger and Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve. However, in 83 years of naming a Person of the Year, Time has also chosen Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler.

Mr Zuckerberg, a Harvard dropout, who built the influential social networking site in 2004, is estimated to have a fortune of $6.9 billion and is the 35th richest person in America.

Facebook has more than with 500 million members and an estimated annual revenue of more than $2 billion.

However the site is not without controversy; Mr Zuckerberg has fought legal battles with his co-founder Eduardo Saverin and another group of Harvard students who claimed he stole the idea from them.

A film about his rise and the creation of the site was a box office hit earlier this year. The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin, was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture on Tuesday.

Last month Mr Zuckerberg was placed fourth in Fortune magazine’s annual list ranking the world’s top businesspeople.

Read what Ben Mezrich, author of the book that inspired 'The Social Network' said about Mark Zuckerberg here