23 who laughed at the recession

CEO since 1997: Steven P. Jobs (When he returned to Apple)

Other celebrity CEOs have been taken down a peg -- or ten -- by the recession. But not Steve Jobs, who is said to personally account for some $25 billion of Apple's $220 billion market cap.

Even though Jobs was on medical leave for the first half of 2009, Apple gadgets remained omnipresent.

In January, the company unveiled the much-anticipated iPad. A month later, Apple's iTunes store recorded its 10 billionth download, giving Apple skeptics another reason to reconsider.

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