#1 James Sinegal, Costco

James Sinegal is co-founder and former CEO of Costco, an international retail chain.

Sinegal like Jobs was innovative business builder, a guy with a long-term focus on shareholder value and connecting with consumers in new ways.

Sinegal co-founded Costco and has been president since 1983. It is his innovations that made Costco the first warehouse club to include fresh food, eye-care clinics, pharmacies, gas stations and other businesses previously thought out of place on retail floors. Shares of Costco are up 2,800 percent and have paid modest dividends since 2004, all credits to Sinegal.

Something which places both Jobs and Sinegal in same league is Sinegal’s desire to put “user experience” above everything else. Being in retailer business, where customer satisfaction is a priority and which in turn cannot be achieved unless the employees are happy, and motivated. About four out of every five Costco workers get health care and benefits, even though about half are part-timers. The average wage is $19 an hour, and there have been no layoffs in the recession.

And there is one more category where Sinegal can be considered a step ahead of Jobs, while Jobs outsourced work to Asia, Sinegal managed to create an industry leader that offers livable wages to almost 150,000 Americans.