Fortune magazine has recently announced its 26th annual ranking of "America's Most Admired Companies". Apple Inc. topped the list for 2008, whereas it was only sixth in 2007. Berkshire Hathaway and General Electric came second and third respectively.
Fortune and its research partner Hay Group selected ten companies with the highest revenue from each industry category in the Fortune 1000, and then asked 3,721 managers, executives and analysts from dozens of industries to rate the companies on eight measures ranging from investment value to social responsibility to select the top ten most admired companies.