Mark Zuckerberg has become the world’s sixth richest person and fourth wealthiest in the Unites States – while he was on two-month paternity leave.

The Facebook CEO’s wealth soared to $47.9 billion this week after the social media website’s stock climbed 12 per cent following a strong quarterly earnings report, according to Forbes.

The 31-year-old Harvard graduate is now the youngest person on the world’s top ten richest list where he sits above Google founder Larry Page, the Koch brothers and most recently, Oracle’s Larry Ellison.

Zuckerberg only entered the top ten list at the end of last year when he was catapulted from 14th in 2014 into seventh on the strength of his impressive fortune. He is also now ranked as the fourth richest in the Unites States.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is still the richest person in the world. His fortune currently stands at $76.2 billion

Behind Gates is Zara founder Amancio Ortega who has a real time net worth of around $68.4 billion.

Last year, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced a $120 million donation to improve education in the San Francisco Bay area, particularly for low-income students. It came five years after donating $100 million to remake education in Newark.