CNBC has been around for 25 years now, and in honor of that, decided to come up with what they call the “First 25,” or the 25 people “to have had the most profound impact on business and finance since 1989.”

In other words (CNBC’s words), “the 25 most transformative leaders, icons and rebels of the past-quarter century.”

And due to his “vision [which] spurred changes far beyond his industry and put an indelible stamp on the wider culture,” Apple co-founder Steve Jobs sits at number one on the list.

He sits ahead of Bill Gates (#2), Sergey Brin‚ Larry Page & Eric Schmidt (all lumped together at #4) and Jeff Bezos (#5). Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg comes in at number eight.

You can check out CNBC’s full profile on Steve Jobs and why they chose him here. When I say “they,” I mean CNBC, “augmented by their advisory board,” with some consideration to audience votes.

CNBC knows that most people will hate this list.

In fact, CNBC’s Tyler Mathisen argues why Steve Jobs at #1 sound ludicrous to some:

But let’s talk about Jobs for a minute. The Apple OS never had more than a few points of market share on the desktop and laptop. Jobs didn’t put the smart in smartphones. Mike Lazaridis of BlackBerry did. And the iPod wasn’t the first portable music player.Sony’s Walkman was, and it had a radio. Philanthropy? Jobs didn’t come close to Gates. Fair enough, but he could rock a turtleneck—as well as everything from PCs, to music and movies, to smartphones—with style.

You get the point.

But then again, he says, this is only meant to spur debate.

Everyone on our First 25, and every ranking in it, can be argued for and against. And that, folks, is the point. A ranking like this one is meant to spur discussion as well as celebrate exceptional achievement. And, let me tell you, the debates among the members of our advisory panel were every bit as heated as those sure to take place now that the list has been published.

Ok, guys–let’s debate then!

Image via Wikimedia Commons