I don't know... very few CEO are admirable. The founder tend to have more admirable qualities, but the management CEO that came after, the way the institution is set up pretty much all managerial CEO are corrupt unprincipled, immoral psychopaths - it's their job.
Say you're the CEO of a coal company. You know it's not the best kind of fuel for the world but what can you do? Your job is to look after the interests of your shareholders... so you hire consultants, call it Clean Coal, do some ads to show how amazing that black rock is, buy a few politicians and even have them say it's good for humanity.
I mean, you may believe your own coolaid but you're not that dump, which mean you're a lying socio-path who sell your soul for money.
Or you found there's a defect in your product... instead of coming clean you do the cost/benefit analysis and roll the dice. Some of your customers may die, some will sue but what's the costs, what's the benefit?
Or say you're into tech, change the world... heck, most of your technologies you stole from the gov't and years of research by much smarter people and more civic minded people and funded by others... but you will take it if you can and try to sell it as your own invention and patent it.
Then there's the day to day running of the business... how to make more profit and keep your job and your shareholders happy? You cut wages, cut costs, be more efficient, fire people the moment you don't need them, lobby to not pay proper compensation, find ways so that taxpayers could help fund your activities - either thru rebate for your R&D or full blown invasion of another country to expand your market... then you don't pay your fair share of taxes to make more profit.
Or take IBM... selling its machine to Nazi Germany so they can better collect data and organise extermination of innocent people. Or Coke following the Allied, build factories everywhere the Allied took over... then also make Fanta for the other side.
In the end, the business leader with qualities that are admirable - innovation, creativity, creating value, hard-work... these are qualities millions of "ordinary" people have, and some even struggle more to do what they do. So to admire these CEO is really, admiring them because they have money, lots of it. Most of which they got it from exploitation of people and resources and the legal system... rarely are they admired for the value they create.
But yea, there are some I think are somewhat admirable... most would be Ben Franklin... entrepreneur, inventor, scientists, statesman, genius. Conrad Hilton of Hilton hotels; Ray Croc; Ben Graham and Phillip Fisher because they're generous geniuses who know what's important in life as well.