Apple CEO Tim Cook: Coming out was more important than my privacy
Apple CEO Tim Cook has opened up about his decision to come out as gay.
Mr Cook, who succeeded Steve Jobs as the head of the Cupertino firm, spoke about his sexuality for the first time last year, having previously insisted on maintaining his own privacy.
He has shown his support for LGBT rights on a number of occasions since, however, even marching at Pride events.
Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the Apple boss spoke candidly about his decision to speak about his personal life.
He said: “Every day I come to work, and in front of my desk I have a photo of Dr Martin Luther King. Every day I ask myself, it’s Dr King’s quote: ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?’
“It became so clear to me that kids were getting bullied in school, kids were getting basically discriminated against, kids were even being disclaimed by their own parents and that I needed to do something,
“Where I value my privacy significantly, I felt that I was valuing it too far above what I could do for the people.
“I wanted to tell everyone my truth. Many people already know. For many people, it was no revelation.
He joked: “It’s like discovering something on your iPhone it’s always done… but you didn’t quite know it!
“It wasn’t a revelation to many of the people I work with, but it was to the broader world, and I felt a tremendous responsibility to do it.”
