Apple CEO Tim Cook Comes Out as Gay in "Businessweek"

In an article he penned for Businessweek, Apple's CEO Tim Cook explains why he chose now to come out as gay.

Photo Removed
Complex Original

Blank pixel used during image takedowns

Photo Removed

After criticizing his home state of Alabama on Monday for not fighting harder for LGBTQ rights, Apple CEO Tim Cook penned an essay for Businessweek where he publicly addressed his sexual orientation for the first time.

"While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now," Cook begins. "So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."

Cook says that coming out isn't in response to any specific event, but that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. served as an inspiration for it. While Cook hasn't hid his sexuality from others, as family and some employees already knew of it, Cook steered away from discussing it in public as the CEO of Apple. Yet Dr. King's statement, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” made him reconsider the way he's used the platform that comes with leading one of the most powerful companies in the world. He goes on to say that he has the good fortune of working in an environment where someone's sexuality isn't an issue, but recognized "not everyone is so lucky." This makes Cook the most prominent business leader to come out to date.

"I’ve come to realize that my desire for personal privacy has been holding me back from doing something more important. That’s what has led me to today," he says.


Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It’s made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life. It’s been tough and uncomfortable at times, but it has given me the confidence to be myself, to follow my own path, and to rise above adversity and bigotry. It’s also given me the skin of a rhinoceros, which comes in handy when you’re the CEO of Apple.

It was just in June that a CNBC host mentioned that Cook was gay, and was met with silence:

Businessweek and Apple have had a healthy relationship in recent months, with the magazine publishing a lengthy article with interviews from Cook, Craig Federighi and Jony Ive. Read Cook's essay here.

Latest in Pop Culture