Apple CEO Steve Jobs topped the 2010 Junior Achievement Teens and Entrepreneurship survey, beating Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Twenty-three per cent of teenagers in the US admired Jobs the most for his work in Apple. This was down from 35pc of last year.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling came in second at 17pc, and talk-show icon Oprah Winfrey came third at 14pc.
Zuckerberg came in at 9pc, tying with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, in spite of Facebook’s user base of more than half a billion.
When asked what qualities they admire most in an entrepreneur, only 10pc said it was riches and fame.
The most admired aspects tied at 31pc – one was making a difference in people’s lives and the other was success in multiple fields.
When these teenagers were asked what their incentive would be for becoming an entrepreneur, 27pc said it was the ability to work for yourself and 24pc said it was in order to control their own destiny.
Third place was the ability to do good, at 15pc.
The deciding factor for teenagers to become future entrepreneurs was seen to be both their environment and having strong role models.