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Tim Cook comes out: 7 milestones for gay rights in the corporate world

When Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly stated that he is 'proud to be gay' in an essay for Bloomberg Businessweek, he made a point to acknowledge that he wouldn't have been able to do so a few decades before. Here’s a look at seven milestones for the LGBT community in the business world.

5. Rick Welts

Matt York/AP
Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire (l.), and Portland Trail Blazers forward Marcus Camby battle for the rebound. Rick Welts, a nine-year CEO and president of the Phoenix Suns, was the first major American sports executive to publicly come out.

  • By Karis Hustad and Schuyler Velasco Staff writers

What: first major American sports executive to publicly come out

Before 2011, Rick Welts was best known for his sharp marketing skills (he conceived the campaign for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics “Dream Team”), being the third-highest ranking executive for the NBA for a time, and serving as the president and CEO of the Phoenix Suns for nine years.

In 2011, he became notable in another way. Rick Welts came out as gay in an interview with the New York Times, making him the first major American sports executive to be publicly out.

Though only in 2011, the move was meaningful in the business world, as well as the sports world. There are still few openly gay CEOs and executives in the business world, and the professional sports players have generally steered away from the topic. In the years following Mr. Welt’s announcement, Jason Collins became the first openly gay player in the NBA and University of Missouri lineman Michael Sam became the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL in April. The NFL, NBA, and MLB all added a sexual orientation nondiscrimination clause to their policies in 2011.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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