Jokes about nerd revenge and how cool it actually is to be good in school aside, it’s looking like the geeks may, in fact, inherit the earth. This month, Fortune magazine named one of the country’s biggest nerds CEO of the decade. That’s right, the decade. Not the year, not the month, but the entire first 10 years of the new millennium.

Steve Jobs, founder and CEO of Apple Computers was named best of the best chief execs. What makes his achievement so remarkable is that his computers and software aren’t the dominant technology in their industry.

But Jobs’ stock — both in Apple and among others in the business world — has soared in recent years not because his products command the biggest share of the market.

His value to both his company and the folks who swear by his technology is more ephemeral and tougher to accumulate. Jobs inspires the kind of devotion to brand that many companies only dream about.

Apple phones, computers, music players and software have garnered an almost cult-like following.

Esthetically pleasing, dependable and user-friendly, Mac, iPhones, iPods and operating systems possess qualities that make their owners return again and again with open wallets.

To read more about Fortune’s reasons for picking Jobs to be CEO of the Decade, click here.

Tags: Apple, CEO of the Decade, computers, Fortune, Steve Jobs