Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg named TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year

Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has bested WikiLeaks creator Julian Assange and the rescue Chilean miners to become TIME Magazine's 2010 Person of the Year.

“It’s something that is transforming the way we live our lives every day,” TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel told US network NBC's Today Show this morning as he unveiled the magazine cover. “It’s social engineering, changing the way we relate to each other.”

This year Facebook passed 500 million users, which is one for every 10 people of the planet. Zuckerberg, 26, himself faced an unflattering portrayal in David Fincher's theatrical version of the Facebook founding, The Social Network, which was release in early Autumn.

The Facebook co-founder is now the second-youngest recipient of TIME's yearly award, after Charles Lindbergh was awarded named the magazine's first-ever Person of the Year in 1927 at the age of 25. Zuckerberg rivals were WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the American Tea Party movement, Afghanistan leader Hamid Karzai and the rescued Chilean miners, who rounded out the top five.