Mark Zuckerberg Is Now The Third Richest Person On Earth

The 34-year-old rounded out the three tech giants at the top of the money game, following Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at Number 1 and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in the Number 2 spot, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the world’s 500 wealthiest people.

Zuckerberg moved up the ladder after Facebook shares climbed 2.4 percent Friday. Company stock prices are up this year about 15 percent, even though they hit an eight-month low in late March after a barrage of complaints over controversial data sharing by the social media giant. Facebook allowed political strategy firm Cambridge Analytica — which helped President Donald Trump’s campaign — to harvest the private data of 87 million users.

Facebook also has faced major heat for the role it played providing a powerful platform for Russian posts and advertising aiming to influence the 2016 U.S. election and undermine American democracy.

It’s the first time in the history of the Bloomberg index that tech moguls have grabbed the top three slots. Technology assets make up about 20 percent of the more than $5 trillion in wealth tracked by the index, which is more than any other business. Six of the 10 richest people earned their wealth in technology.

Warren Buffett, who used to be the richest person alive is now Number 4, and has been declining because of his large charitable contributions. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged to give away 99 percent of their Facebook stock over their lifetimes.