Gates Remains King on Forbes’ List of Richest Americans : Money: The combined worth of the 400 tops China’s gross domestic product. Roster proves it’s possible to get rich quick in the U.S.

NEW YORK —  The 400 richest Americans are worth more than $1 trillion combined--and that tops the gross domestic product of China, Forbes magazine said Thursday.

Ninety-eight of the richest 400 live in California.

Bill Gates is still America’s wealthiest, with a net personal worth of $85 billion, up from $59 billion last year. Microsoft Corp.’s founder and chairman, whose net worth briefly touched $100 billion in April, still has more money than the gross domestic product of the Philippines ($83.1 billion).

What’s even more surprising about the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, published in the edition dated Oct. 11, is that it proves that the United States really is a country where someone can get rich quick.

It took the legendary John D. Rockefeller 25 years to make his first billion, but Gary Winnick (68th on the Forbes 400 with $3.2 billion) joined the billionaire’s club just 18 months after putting his money into undersea fiber-optic cable builder Global Crossing Ltd.

Jay Walker, founder of Internet commerce company Priceline.com Inc., who ranks 43rd with $4.1 billion, became a billionaire nearly as fast, and Pierre Omidyar, founder of Internet auctioneer EBay Inc., has vaulted from nowhere into the 35th spot with $4.9 billion.

With a surging stock market driven by technology and Internet companies, the number of billionaires swelled by 79 to 268 this year--the first year billionaires make up more than half the Forbes list.

In 1982 there were just 13 billionaires in the United States, and now there are about 5 million lowly millionaires. Of the 60 new names on this year’s list, 35 are billionaires and 19 have fortunes derived from Web businesses.

Behind Gates is No. 2-ranked Paul Allen, who also got rich via Microsoft stock and who has a net worth of $40 billion. Investor Warren Buffett is third with $31 billion. Steven Ballmer, Microsoft’s president, and Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computer Corp., rank 4th and 5th.

The magazine grouped the rich into various categories to make comparisons among people who made their money in the same areas: Among the categories are: Microsoft Money, Cable Guys, Hard Drivers, Kings of the Code, Web Masters, Bandwidth Boys, Media Moguls, You’ve Got Money, Financiers, Inheritors, Landlords, Rag Traders, Optionaires, Jocks, Money Managers, Old Money and Retailers.

Furthermore, the bar rose quite a bit for this year’s group. The minimum to qualify for this year’s list is $625 million, up from $500 million last year.

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Forbes’ Wealthiest

The 15 richest Americans, as compiled by Forbes magazine:

Bill Gates III, 43, $85 billion

Paul Allen, 46, $40 billion

Warren Buffett, 69, $31 billion

Steven Ballmer, 43, $23 billion

Michael Dell, 34, $20 billion

Alice L. Walton, 50; Helen R. Walton, 80; Jim C. Walton, 51; John T. Walton, 53; S. Robson Walton, 55, $17 billion

Gordon Earl Moore, 70 $15 billion

Lawrence Joseph Ellison, 55, $13 billion

Philip F. Anschutz, 59, $11 billion

John Werner Kluge, 85, $11 billion

Barbara Cox Anthony, 76, $9.7 billion