Amazon surpasses Google in value

It’s official! Amazon (AMZN) has moved ahead of Google to become the second most valuable company in the world. Amazon’s market value now stands at $768 billion, putting it ahead of Google’s parent Alphabet (GOOGL) whose market cap is $762 billion. The top position is held by Apple (AAPL) at $889 billion, and both companies will have to run quite a distance to catch up with the iPhone maker.

Amazon moved past Microsoft (MSFT) to secure third place just a month ago. The online retailer’s latest rise in position has increased its CEO Jeff Bezos’ fortune to $131 billion. He is currently the wealthiest man in the world. Amazon benefited from a 2.69% increase in its stock price while Google saw a drop in its stock.

Microsoft sits at fourth position with a market cap of $717 billion. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are at a close pace with each other so there could be shifts in their positions over the coming months.

Amazon has long been touted as the company that is likely to cross the $1 trillion mark given its increasing expansion into almost every industry and sector. Apple seems to be the closest in line to achieve this mark, but Amazon’s innovative efforts have made it an interesting bet.

Facebook (FB) was kicked hard by the latest controversies over data misuse and protection policies, with the stock suffering over the past few days. Facebook shares fell more than 2% on Tuesday and its market value now stands at $488 billion putting it way behind in the race.