San Francisco, Oct 24: Internet advertising giant Google has surpassed IBM to become the world’s third most valuable technology company, trailing only behind software giant Microsoft and network leader Cisco.

With the company’s stock trading around $475 per share Tuesday, Google’s market capitalisation reached some $145 billion, surpassing the total value of IBM at $139.5 billion.

Google leapfrogged the venerable tech giant when its shares surged over 5 percent Monday following the reporting of stellar financial results last week which saw its profits almost double compared to the corresponding period one year ago.

Google’s value easily exceeds that of other tech giants like Hewlett-Packard ($109 billion) and Intel ($123 billion). It has an even clearer lead over other web companies like eBay ($45 billion), Yahoo ($32 billion) and Amazon ($14 billion).

It is now breathing down the neck of Cisco, which has a value of around $147.5 billion, but still has a long way to go to catch Microsoft at $279 billion.

Google is worth some $58 billion more than the combined value of America’s three largest automakers DaimlerChrysler ($54 billion), General Motors ($20 billion) and Ford ($15 billion).

The world’s most valuable enterprise is oil company ExxonMobil, which is valued at $416 billion. Other business giants are General Electric worth approximately $367 billion and the world’s largest retailer Wal-Mart with a value of about $214 billion.

The two Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have fortunes of around $14 billion each and are the youngest members of the Forbes list of the richest Americans, where they occupy places 12 and 13.