Sydney, Jan 11 : Late visionary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has topped a list of the world's best chief executives, according to a report.

The global list, compiled by French business school Insead for Harvard Business Review, ranked the former Apple head first.

Jobs was followed by Amazon's Jeff Bezos in second and Samsung's retired boss Yun Jong-Yong in third, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Jobs topped the list for this year despite passing away in October 2011 as the analysis looked back at the performances of chief executives of big companies between 1995 and August 2012.

The survey of 3143 CEOs, which bases its ranking on returns and market value change, credited Jobs with significantly increasing Apple''s long-term value.

The survey said Jobs' posthumous results were even more impressive than when he topped the list three years ago.

According to the paper, the journal said it chose to focus on the chief executives' ability to created long-term value for their companies, rather than what is usually expected of them - short-term financial results. (ANI)