Apple CEO Tim Cook came out as gay Thursday and said that fighting for equality is at the core of his personal and business ethos.<\/p>\n
The head of the tech giant said his sexuality has never been a secret at his company, but acknowledging his homosexuality as a public statement about equality was “more important” than his privacy.<\/p>\n
“Let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me,” Cook said in a statement in Bloomberg Businessweek.<\/p>\n
“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. Not everyone is so lucky,” he said.<\/p>\n
The Apple CEO said coming out was part of his personal fight to stand up for minorities, a value he said his company also embraces.<\/p>\n
“Part of social progress is understanding that a person is not defined only by one’s sexuality, race, or gender,” he said.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
“We’ll continue to fight for our values, and I believe that any CEO of this incredible company, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, would do the same.<\/p>\n
“And I will personally continue to advocate for equality for all people until my toes point up.”<\/p>\n
Cook took over as the head of Apple in 2011 after the death of former CEO Steve Jobs.<\/p>\n
He has faced criticism for not maintaining Apple’s lustre after the death of Jobs, who was hailed by fans as a visionary.<\/p>\n
But the recent frenzy over the big screen iPhone 6 launch had some analysts applauding Apple’s comeback as it seeks to carve out its niche in the increasingly popular “phablet” market.<\/p>\n
Cook said that being gay was only part of his identity, and described himself as a “an engineer, an uncle, a nature lover, a fitness nut, a son of the South, a sports fanatic, and many other things.”<\/p>\n
He said he is inspired by civil rights champions Marin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, whose portraits hang in his office.<\/p>\n