One of the worst kept secrets in Silicon Valley has now transmuted itself into an official admission after Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted being gay in an essay penned for Bloomberg Businessweek.
Rumors of Cook's sexual orientation persisted for years as the famously private executive shed little light on his personal life. He's been open about his lifestyle with many co-workers, though.
“Plenty of colleagues at Apple know I’m gay, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference in the way they treat me,” he said. ”Of course, I’ve had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace people’s differences,” he observed, adding that “not everyone is so lucky”.
No matter how you look at it, this is a historic move: the CEO of the world's most powerful corporation just announced publicly he's gay. Top-level executives rarely, if ever, discuss their sexual preference out of fear of losing customers, proving that corporate America as a whole still has a long way to go to embrace the individuality and fight against discrimination at workplace.
Cook's bombshell announcement is a step in the right direction so hopefully a few other high-profile CEOs will follow suit.