Tim Cook’s decision to reveal his sexuality to the world nearly a year ago did not come easy.
During an interview Tuesday with Stephen Colbert on CBS’ The Late Show, Apple’s CEO explained that he had long valued his privacy, but increasingly recognized the struggles of children being discriminated and bulled and felt an obligation to help change this by telling the world that the top executive of the world’s most valuable company is gay.
“It became so clear to me kids were getting bullied in school, kids were getting basically discriminated against, kids were even being disclaimed by their own parents — and I needed to do something,” Cook said in his candid remarks. “Where I valued my privacy significantly, I felt that I was valuing it too far above what I could do for other people. And so I wanted to tell everyone my truth.”
“I felt a tremendous responsibility to do it,” he added.
The original news marked a pivotal moment for the business world. Cook was and remains the only openly gay current CEO among the Fortune 500 companies. But it was not really a secret among many at Apple.
“Many people already knew, and so [for] many people it was no revelation,” he said, before throwing in a very on-brand quip: “It’s like discovering something on your iPhone it’s always done, but you didn’t quite know it. It wasn’t a revelation to a lot of people that I worked with, but it maybe was to the broader world.”
On the show, Cook talked about the rumors of Apple building self-driving cars (“I’ve read that!”), explained the new 3D Touch features on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus and expressed frustration over the many movies about his former boss and friend, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs.
“I haven’t seen them, but the Steve I knew was an amazing human being. He’s someone that you wanted to do your best for…. And I love him dearly. I miss him every day,” Cook said. “I think that a lot of people are trying to be opportunistic, and I hate this. It’s not a great part of our world.”
Cook is third big technology executive that Colbert has had on his new show in just one week. Travis Kalanick, the CEO of ride-hailing service Uber, and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, appeared on the show last week.