Published on 04:18 PM, July 07, 2018

Mark Zuckerberg is now the third-richest person alive

Mark Zuckerberg. File photo

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has replaced Warren Buffett as the third-richest person in the world.

The Facebook CEO jumped ahead on Friday with a net worth of $81.6 billion, according to calculations by Bloomberg, CNN reports.  

That put him about $373 million in front of Buffett, the legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) CEO.

Zuckerberg claimed the No 3 spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index because Facebook (FB) shares rose 2.4%. The stock has spiked about 15% this year, according to the CNN report.

For the first time, the three richest people alive are all tech titans. Amazon's Jeff Bezos, worth about $141 billion, is first, followed by Microsoft (MSFT) founder Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg index.

Tech stocks have been a bright spot in a sometimes volatile market this year. Netflix (NFLX) has more than doubled, Amazon (AMZN) has surged 46%, Apple (AAPL) is up about 11%, and Google (GOOG) has gained 9%.

Lindsey Bell, an investment strategist with CFRA Research, said last month that she expects tech stocks to help lead the market higher over the next year.

Buffett is betting on tech, too. Berkshire Hathaway bought about 75 million shares of Apple stock during the first three months of the year, adding to the 165 million shares it already had.

He was relatively late to tech. Buffett didn't report his first purchase of Apple shares until two years ago. Now Apple is one of Berkshire's largest holdings.

Buffett gives billions of dollars to charity every year. Zuckerberg has pledged to give away 99% of his Facebook shares.