Gawker: Apple's new boss is the most powerful gay man in Silicon Valley
Thu. January 20, 2011 4:21 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
apple coo tim cook
photo credit // gawker.com
Cupertino, CA -
As Apple COO Tim Cook takes over the reign at Apple while Steve Jobs is on medical leave, he becomes the most powerful man in Silicon Valley. Now there is speculation that Cook is gay, marking not only a new era for Apple but for LGBT progress.
Cook, who is "intensely private according to Fortune magazine, has never acknowledged his sexual orientation. But quoting two well-placed sources, Gawker says Cook's sexual orientation has been the topic of at least some discussion within Apple.
According to the sources, Apple management would support Cook if he were to publicly acknowledge his orientation... but they also had concerns about whether his coming out would impact the perception of the Apple brand.
If Cook comes out, he would be the most powerful openly gay executive in the technology industry according to Gawker. He would be trailed by Microsoft's openly lesbian HR chief Lisa Brummel and Google's VP of new business development Megan Smith.
50-year-old Cook grew up in Robertsdale, Alabama. He has worked at IBM and Compaq before joining Apple in 1998.
Cook, who is "intensely private according to Fortune magazine, has never acknowledged his sexual orientation. But quoting two well-placed sources, Gawker says Cook's sexual orientation has been the topic of at least some discussion within Apple.
According to the sources, Apple management would support Cook if he were to publicly acknowledge his orientation... but they also had concerns about whether his coming out would impact the perception of the Apple brand.
If Cook comes out, he would be the most powerful openly gay executive in the technology industry according to Gawker. He would be trailed by Microsoft's openly lesbian HR chief Lisa Brummel and Google's VP of new business development Megan Smith.
50-year-old Cook grew up in Robertsdale, Alabama. He has worked at IBM and Compaq before joining Apple in 1998.