Apple CEO Tim Cook Joins Gay Pride Parade; CNBC Host Accidentally Outs Bachelor CEO
Apple CEO Apple Tim Cook joined on Sunday the Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco. About 4,000 gay men and women took part in the event which marked the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots that is often linked with the kick off of the gay rights movement.
The Cupertino-based tech giant has been known to be a supporter of the LGBT community since 2011 when it supported the Trevor Project which is a charity aimed at preventing the suicide of young gays and lesbians.
Cook's participation could be seen by some observers as his way of officially coming out after CNBC co-anchor Simon Hobbs had a slip of the tongue on Friday morning in Squawk on the Street and outed the Apple CEO.
Hobbs told columnist Jim Stewart, quoted by Forbes, "I think Tim Cook is fairly open about the fact that he's gay at the head of Apple isn't he?"
Forbes noted that Cook, 53, has never confirmed or denied if he is gay or not, although the entry on his personal life in Wikipedia and other biographies does not mention of any marriage or family and confirmed he is still a bachelor, but noted he is a fitness nut and is in the gym by 5 am.
The topic of open gay executives cropped up because Stewart was discussing his upcoming column on the former CEO of BP, John Browne, who authored a book titled The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good For Business. The book provided details on Browne's life as a closeted executive.
Responding to Hobbs's question, Steward replied, "No. I don't want to comment on anybody who might or might not be. I'm not going to out anybody. I called a lot of people and no one at any major company would allow their names to be used."
But Out Magazine named Cook as the most powerful LGBT person in its 2013 power list. In his December speech in UN, Cook said he had experienced many types of discrimination and had openly supported gay rights.
Here is the CNBC show.
YouTube/Jim Browski
