Runners-up include Gates, Buffett, Page, Brin, Winfrey, Stewart and — wait for it –  Madoff

Photo: Time Inc.

Steve Jobs is the CEO of the decade, according to the new issue of Fortune magazine.

"Jobs is back," writes Adam Lashinsky in the cover story published Thursday. "It's as if his signature 'one more thing' line now applies to him as well. After a six-month leave of absence in the early part of this year, during which he received a liver transplant, he is once again commanding a 34,000-strong corporate army that is as powerful, awe-inspiring, creative, secretive, bullying, arrogant — and yes, profitable — as at any time since he and his chum Steve Wozniak founded Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) in 1976."

The piece includes the revelation that Jobs twice considered taking Apple private, once in a leveraged buyout with Silver Lake Partners and once a few years earlier with financing lined up by his old friend Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle (ORCL).

Sure to stir controversy is Fortune's provocative list of also rans, which includes, along with some obvious contenders (Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, for example), two convicted felons: Martha Stewart and Bernie Madoff.

CNNMoney.com (which carries this blog) has put together an elaborate online editorial package that includes excerpts from Lashinsky's story, a video of him explaining the choice, praises of Jobs from the rich and famous, celebrities' favorite iPhones apps, an interactive timeline, rarely seen photographs and more. The entry point is here.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

Tech journalism loses Corcoran and Anders

It's a sign of the times that two of the tech world's finest, most seasoned, intelligent and nicest journalists no longer are plying their trade for the mainstream media. That they're also married means an entire household's prodigious output isn't finding its way anymore into the pages of two important business publications.

Elizabeth Corcoran and George Anders, she formerly of Fortune competitor Forbes and he formerly of The Wall Street Journal, are on their own these days.

Anders, a bigshot columnist and book author who spent years at the Journal in multiple postings, left a while ago. He reports that he's working on a book on talent. More

For the second time in as many years, Apple Inc. (AAPL) is No. 1 on Fortune Magazine's list of the World's Most Admired Companies.

"It's been a rocky year for Apple," writes Alyssa Abkowitz. "CEO Steve Jobs' health made headlines, and critics said Cupertino wasn't being open enough about it. But customers remained loyal to the brand that made white ear buds cool. As much of the computer industry struggled, Apple shipped 22.7 million iPods during its first quarter (up 3 percent from last year), 2.5 million Macs (up 9 percent), and 4.4 million iPhones. No wonder Apple tops our Most Admired list for the second year in a row." (link)

In the nine key attributes used to rank the companies, Apple got top marks (1 out of 12) for innovation, people management and quality of products/services. It got lower marks (5 out of 12) for social responsibility and global competitiveness.

Curiously, when judged by its peers (i.e. other companies in the computer industry), Apple came in No. 2 after Xerox (XRX) and above Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).

In the broader list of most admired companies in any industry — judged by companies both inside and outside the computer field — HP came in No. 30 and Xerox didn't make the cut.

To see the full list, click here.

Fortune's annual America's Most Admired Companies list is out Monday and Apple is No. 1 — up from No. 7 last year.

How was this determined? To quote the intro.:

To create the top 20, Fortune and its survey partners at Hay Group asked the experts — in this case, more than 3,700 people from dozens of industries — to select the 10 companies they admire most. This year's winners all have strong records of innovation, leadership, and financial strength — and their employees know it.

There is much more about Apple (AAPL) in the issue, including Betsy Morris' company profile "What Makes Apple Golden," but the brief summary reads:

It is a tribute to its CEO that Apple, which ten years ago seemed headed for the slag heap, is No. 1 on this list. Steve Jobs has always had a knack for weaving magic out of silicon and software. But who knew he could build a $24 billion (in sales) company on the strength of a portable jukebox and a computer with a single-digit market share?

His pitch, as he leveraged the success of the iPod, was very simple: Apple products work, and if you buy more than one, they work better. The company (if not its stock) is on a tear, but even with the economy weakening, it will be interesting to see how economically sensitive this growth engine is. (link)

Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs tops the "Power 25" list in the current issue of Fortune, ahead of News Corp.'s (NWS) Rupert Murdoch, Goldman Sachs' (GS) Lloyd Blankfein, and the Google (GOOG) guys.

My colleague Brent Schlender wrote the item, which says, in part:

Since returning to Apple in 1997, he has changed the dynamics of consumer electronics with the iPod, and persuaded the music industry, the television networks, and Hollywood to distribute their wares with the iTunes Music Store. With his hugely successful Apple Stores, he gave the big-box boys a lesson in high-margin, high-touch retailing. And this year, at the height of his creative and promotional powers, Jobs orchestrated Apple's entry into the cellular telephone business with the iPhone.

That's five industries that Jobs has upended — computers, Hollywood, music, retailing, and wireless phones. At this moment, no one has more influence over a broader swath of business than Jobs.

You can read the rest of his article here. A photo gallery of the full list is available here.