For the first time, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was named to Fortune magazine's most admired companies. The annual Fortune survey asked businesspeople to vote for the companies they admired most, from any industry. Apple ranked 7th overall and 2nd within the computer company segment, behind International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM).

This survey ranked companies based on eight key attributes of reputation: innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long term investment and quality of products/services. Apple's industry rank was all 1's and 2's for everything, but social responsibility. Maybe its red iPod Nano Aids effort with Bono and U2 didn't cut muster with the voters?

Don't expect to see Apple leaving this list in years to come as Apple's competitors have watched it upend industries from computers to music, and now it has one of the most anticipated products in years -- the iPhone.

Apple breaks into Forbes' top ten most admired companies originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.