Apple CEO Time Cook 'outed' as gay by CNBC co-achor
By Mikey Campbell
Oh, AI. Someday you might get to sit at the grown-ups table.
I agree! It is interesting to note that AI preceded CNBC's outing by more than 3 years by publishing an article with excerpts and quotes from the valleywag article and others.
It sounds like it was an honest mistake. But really, they shouldn't have been discussing his personal life in the first place. If anything, they should have been discussing how good (or not good) of a CEO he is.
Tim is CEO of the worlds largest and most admired company. It is entirely his own decision to stay private about his decision and I respect that. But I also think he could be an inspiration to many people who have sufferered descrimination if he came out about it. From what I've read about other famous people who have done it, they describe feeling liberated and don't regret at all the decision. If he is gay I do hope he comes out on his own terms while he is still Apple's CEO. I don't understand his decision not to, but I'm not gay so I'll never understand.
(Edit Not that I disagree with what you're saying, but it looks like I just made up a whole other way to put thoughts in his head.)
Tim Cook is a very smart guy, so what he does, whatever he does, is probably very deliberate and considered. He may have decided that "coming out" or the whole concept of "outing" is flawed. It assumes there was something important to hide in the first place, that it depends on a culture of shame. That's not something he would be inclined to agree with, the way I read his character. And then there's the issue of not wanting to reward the purveyors or what is essentially gossip, with a confirmation. That would piss one off no end, seems to me. Finally, he must feel that his first duty is to Apple and all the people who are associated with it, including us customers. Maybe better to let sleeping dogs lie.
Being left-handed – being black or being gay is just as natural. It is a sometimes rare occurrence to fall in Love and to hold that person in your heart and be loved in return ... it is something that should be celebrated! If it is love between two guys or two girls … all the better … it takes even more courage to defend that LOVE!
Has the column, or American in general still think the world == America? In spite of civil rights from where?
Most if not all FT 500 are multinational. Have luck trying to explain that to those country that civil rights hasn't advanced ( So to speak in American points of view )
And i continue to think whether CEO's sexual orientation, or the support of sexual orientation ( Brendan Eich ) are entirely their own business as long as they keep it to themselves.
Please just leave those people's private life along.
You realize that America is still vastly more progressive than the majority of the world- right? How about being murdered for being gay. There's your serious problems...
As far a Tim Cook is concerned, who cares? Even if you HATE gays, which is a problem in itself, that's like not watching a movie with an actor, director, or producer that supports homosexuality. Good luck!
Now if Cook decided he wants to be a woman and starts wearing female clothes and schedules a gender change, then I'll worry. Until then, he should continue to be one of the Top CEOs of the best company in the world. I hear Ballmer is straight, maybe we should get him! /s
I'm confused. We all knew that. It's not an outing then and not only there is nothing wrong with this, there is also nothing wrong with talking about it.
Tim Cook is tim Cook is Tim Cook. Why should his sexuality be a subject of conversation? Do I have to have a notice around my neck, saying openly heterosexual? Really! As others have commented, he is a superb CEO. Enough said.
Wow now that I've read how people reacted I'm shocked by how stupid they were. As if it's bad talking about someone being gay lol. As a gay man, I find this insulting. I'm sure Cook doesn't care, and that's why he never felt the need to come out. Coming out sometimes makes sense for people, sometimes not, depending on their personal experience. Whatever the case, people shouldn't excpect all gay people to come out. These guys are ridiculous.
There's not really any reason to use phrases like 'outed' because there shouldn't be a stigma around this any more. People aren't outed as being straight after years of assuming they were gay. Randy Ubillos the FCP lead has his own (poorly designed) website about him and his partner:
Ellen Page went to an event recently and announced she was gay:
People have a right to privacy and if they don't want people to know their sexuality that's ok but there shouldn't be any reason to keep it secret.
I can understand where some of the reluctance to declare it comes from though. Tim Cook mentions in the following video about being brought up in Alabama and witnessing a cross burning:
[VIDEO]
Alabama just recently overturned a law discriminating against same sex relationships:
There's strength in numbers though and the more people are made to accept homosexual relationships, the less this will happen.
It's not important that Tim Cook tells people openly about his private life but he is often profiled as being a workaholic and some see that as a good thing. I think people should maintain a healthy work-life balance. Tim is 53 and if he doesn't have a partner to share his life with then that's not a good thing. Nobody needs to know if he has a partner or not but I just hope that he doesn't spend his life just dedicated to his work at Apple.
"Poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for". Sadly people throughout history have been denied this because of discrimination and I hope Tim isn't one of them.
I tried to think about how this would change my opinion of him. It doesn't. Tim Cook is a superb CEO, perfect fit for Apple, and a genuinely good person. Steve Jobs knew that as well.
Who cares. And shame on the media to harp on about things like this. The only way we'll move past social issues like homophobia and racism, is to well, stop making a thing about it at every damn chance we get.
I believe the reason for Tim Cook's reticence has little to do with the cultural climate within corporations. Certainly, his sexual preference makes no difference to the thousands of employees at Apple. Rather, he keeps himself in the closet out of fear that disclosure of his being gay would unfavorably affect the Company's image with that portion of the buying public that holds bigoted views. I suspect that this is the primary reason most CEOs who are gay remain in the closet.
Who cares about whether someone is gay or not? I have a few gay clients and they are the nicest guys you could hope to meet. As for Tim, well, it's been public knowledge since before Steve Jobs died. And like I said, who cares? Far more important to stop voting for religious hardliners who are vociferously against gay lifestyles who then get caught in gay encounters after voting for laws against the things they themselves practiced: there should be no hypocrites in politics; sadly, there does seem to be rather a lot of them...
Comments
I agree! It is interesting to note that AI preceded CNBC's outing by more than 3 years by publishing an article with excerpts and quotes from the valleywag article and others.
It sounds like it was an honest mistake. But really, they shouldn't have been discussing his personal life in the first place. If anything, they should have been discussing how good (or not good) of a CEO he is.
(Edit Not that I disagree with what you're saying, but it looks like I just made up a whole other way to put thoughts in his head.)
Tim Cook is a very smart guy, so what he does, whatever he does, is probably very deliberate and considered. He may have decided that "coming out" or the whole concept of "outing" is flawed. It assumes there was something important to hide in the first place, that it depends on a culture of shame. That's not something he would be inclined to agree with, the way I read his character. And then there's the issue of not wanting to reward the purveyors or what is essentially gossip, with a confirmation. That would piss one off no end, seems to me. Finally, he must feel that his first duty is to Apple and all the people who are associated with it, including us customers. Maybe better to let sleeping dogs lie.
Tim Cook is brilliant.
Being left-handed – being black or being gay is just as natural. It is a sometimes rare occurrence to fall in Love and to hold that person in your heart and be loved in return ... it is something that should be celebrated! If it is love between two guys or two girls … all the better … it takes even more courage to defend that LOVE!
Meanwhile, Tennessee brings back the electric chair, and it's just biz as usual.
You realize that America is still vastly more progressive than the majority of the world- right? How about being murdered for being gay. There's your serious problems...
As far a Tim Cook is concerned, who cares? Even if you HATE gays, which is a problem in itself, that's like not watching a movie with an actor, director, or producer that supports homosexuality. Good luck!
Now if Cook decided he wants to be a woman and starts wearing female clothes and schedules a gender change, then I'll worry. Until then, he should continue to be one of the Top CEOs of the best company in the world. I hear Ballmer is straight, maybe we should get him! /s
Do I have to have a notice around my neck, saying openly heterosexual? Really! As others have commented, he is a superb CEO. Enough said.
Big deal so he is gay. Anyone can see that.
http://rickandrandy.com
Ellen Page went to an event recently and announced she was gay:
People have a right to privacy and if they don't want people to know their sexuality that's ok but there shouldn't be any reason to keep it secret.
I can understand where some of the reluctance to declare it comes from though. Tim Cook mentions in the following video about being brought up in Alabama and witnessing a cross burning:
[VIDEO]
Alabama just recently overturned a law discriminating against same sex relationships:
http://time.com/2888277/alabama-sodomy-law-gay-rights/
There are more examples of discrimination still going on:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/13/alabama-gay-marriage_n_4781328.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/26/gay-teen-gaytard-name-tag_n_5533227.html
There's strength in numbers though and the more people are made to accept homosexual relationships, the less this will happen.
It's not important that Tim Cook tells people openly about his private life but he is often profiled as being a workaholic and some see that as a good thing. I think people should maintain a healthy work-life balance. Tim is 53 and if he doesn't have a partner to share his life with then that's not a good thing. Nobody needs to know if he has a partner or not but I just hope that he doesn't spend his life just dedicated to his work at Apple.
"Poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for". Sadly people throughout history have been denied this because of discrimination and I hope Tim isn't one of them.
OT: Apple is back on top on Barron's list of most respected companies. Perhaps CNBC should focus in that instead of whether a CEO is gay of not.
http://barrons.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/BARRONS_WORLDS_MOST_RESPECTED_COMPANIES_2014.pdf
Or, perhaps it's important to the hope of growing a better world, that people equate "well-respected" and "gay executive" routinely.
I seem to recall his topic and Mr. Cook have been alluded a few times in the past few years, and I always thought the relative silence
that ensued was simply because it was obvious that it doesn't relate to any person's character or competence,
and certainly not in the way of needing to be concealed (unless, of course, an individual prefers that).
Tim Cook is gay. We all know that. He doesn't speak of his personal life. It doesn't matter.
Tim is simply the best CEO Apple can have after Steve Jobs. He will continue to be Apple's CEO for the rest of his life. Apple is his baby now.
Well put. I agree.
Who cares. And shame on the media to harp on about things like this. The only way we'll move past social issues like homophobia and racism, is to well, stop making a thing about it at every damn chance we get.
Well put. I agree.