Oct 30, 2014 11:44 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, one of the most prominent tech companies in the world, has come out as gay.

He wrote a personal essay for Bloomberg Businessweek that was published Thursday morning and several people have offered their well wishes to him and expressed support. Others wondered when public figures coming out would stop being headline news and some pointed to the many more interesting aspects of Cook's personality.

Like Apple does with its products, Cook has not confirmed nor denied his sexual orientation to this point, making an announcement on his own terms rather than reacting to a report.

"While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven't publicly acknowledged it either, until now," he wrote. "So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."

Vicky Beeching, a Christian music recording artist and theologian writer and commentator, praised Cook for calling his sexuality a gift.

Charles Arthur, a technology writer for the Guardian and the author of a book about Apple, said it is "terrific" that Cook be seen as an "inspiration to others." However, he expressed there is so much more to the CEO.

MarketWatch has 14 such facts.

John Legere, T-Mobile's CEO, and Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, offered their support without a personal opinion on the matter.

"I don't consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others," Cook wrote. "So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy.

"When I arrive in my office each morning, I'm greeted by framed photos of Dr. [Martin Luther] King and Robert F. Kennedy. I don't pretend that writing this puts me in their league. All it does is allow me to look at those pictures and know that I'm doing my part, however small, to help others. We pave the sunlit path toward justice together, brick by brick. This is my brick."

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