The six-time overall champion from Austria became only the fourth male skier to reach that mark, also joining Hermann Maier (54) and Ingemar Stenmark (86).
On the women's circuit, only Lindsey Vonn (78), Annemarie Moser-Proell (62) and Vreni Schneider (55) have passed the 50-win milestone.
"I haven't been following Alberto's career very closely. For me the 'Sandmann' was more interesting back then," Hirscher quipped, referring to a character from a German-language children's TV program in the 1990s.
Tomba, who also won Olympic gold in slalom and twice in GS, won his last race shortly before retiring in March 1998, while Hirscher turned nine that month.