Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook comes out as gay, says 'proud to be so'

Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook publicly came out as gay, saying in a magazine article that he wanted to support others who find it difficult to reveal their sexual orientation.

"So 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 an article he wrote in Bloomberg Businessweek published on Thursday.

"I don't consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others," he said.

Cook's statement makes public a fact long known but rarely discussed openly in California's close-knit Silicon Valley technology community.

A popular gay and lesbian magazine, Out, placed Cook at the top of its annual top 50 list of gay people in 2013.

"As the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to reveal he is gay, Tim helps make the business world a bit less homophobic," Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of gay rights organization DignityUSA told Reuters in an email.

"I'm sure this will make it easier for some others in similar positions to consider coming out."

The fact the chief executive of the biggest U.S. publicly traded company felt he could disclose his sexual preference in such a public way, and with the backing of his chairman, shows how times have changed in the past few years.

Former BP Chief Executive Lord Browne, who kept his sexual orientation secret for decades, was forced to come out after a boyfriend made it public in 2007, and he later resigned.

"By deciding to speak publicly about his sexuality, Tim Cook has become a role model, and will speed up changes in the corporate world," Browne said in an email to Reuters on Thursday.

It remains to be seen whether Cook's disclosure will affect the company's business in conservative markets such as Russia, Iran and Africa.

The reason Cook chose this moment to go public is also unclear, but it comes at critical time in American history when a debate is raging over the legality of gay marriage.

"COURAGEOUS"

While never broadcasting his sexual orientation, Cook has frequently spoken out against discrimination of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, most recently this month when he addressed a group in his native Alabama.

Now, he is at least the third CEO of a publicly listed U.S. company to come out of the closet.

C1 Financial Inc's Trevor Burgess and IGI Laboratories Inc's Jason Grenfell-Gardner have previously acknowledged.