Forbes magazine today released its list of America’s best and worst CEOs, and Seattle’s Jeff Bezos finished in the top spot.

“The passing of Steve Jobs has left him, without question, as the corporate chief that others most want to meet, emulate and deify,” writes Forbes’ George Anders. As part of the article Anders interviews Bezos about his to 10 leadership lessons, including “obsess over customers;” “everyone has to be able to work in a call center;” and “if you want to be inventive, you have to be willing to fail.”

Of course, there’s the lesson of “willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time,” something Bezos detailed in this annual meeting message last year.

Also in the top five for best CEO are Marc Benioff of Salesforce.comBob Sasser of Dollar TreeNeal Patterson of Cerner and Leonard Bell of Alexion Pharmaceutical.

Forbes graded execs on four factors, including company’s stock performance over six years; compensation; annualized stock performance and how performance compares to the S&P 500.

The honor comes as The Seattle Times takes a critical look at Amazon.com this week, reporting on its lack of corporate giving and hard stance on tax issues.

Previously on GeekWireDon’t pay up, just show up: What’s Amazon’s obligation to the local idea economy?

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