Zuckerberg tops Buffett to become world’s third-richest person

Facebook Inc co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Warren Buffett as the world’s third-richest person, further solidifying technology as the most robust creator of wealth.

Zuckerberg, who trails only Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, eclipsed Buffett last Friday as Facebook shares climbed 2.4%, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

It’s the first time that the three wealthiest people on the ranking made their fortunes from technology. Zuckerberg, 34, is now worth US$81.6bil, about US$373mil more than Buffett, the 87-year-old chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Zuckerberg’s ascent has been driven by investors’ continued embrace of Facebook, the social-network giant that shook off the fallout from a data-privacy crisis that hammered its shares, sending them to an eight-month low of US$152.22 on March 27.