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For The 1st Time, Amazon Worth More Than Microsoft

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/CNN Money) -- Amazon is now worth more than Microsoft - a first.

The company was founded by Jeff Bezos who graduated from South Florida's Palmetto Senior High.

Amazon is now the third largest in America.

Amazon's market value soared above $685 billion, making the Jeff Bezos-led giant worth more than Microsoft for the first time ever. Microsoft's market value currently stands at $684 billion.

Amazon now trails only Apple, which has a market cap of about $815 billion, and Google owner Alphabet, valued at $750 billion.

These tech giants are all in a race to the magical trillion dollar level, a height that no U.S. company has topped as of yet.

But Amazon clearly has the most momentum. Its stock has soared nearly 21% this year, well ahead of the gains of Alphabet and Microsoft. Apple's stock has fallen year-to-date.

Bezos has already passed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the wealthiest person on the planet back in October, according to Forbes and Bloomberg. Bezos is now worth $116 billion, nearly $25 billion more than Gates.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg rank third and fourth in the world's richest rankings.

(©2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. CNN contributed to this report.)

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