Wikileaks: leaked email from March shows Podesta's initial list of 39 suggestions for Clinton's running mate included Tim Cook, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates
Ok, I can breathe again! Christian Zibreg / iDownloadBlog.com : Tim Cook was included in the list of potential VP candidates for Clinton campaign Kit McDonald / WinBeta : Bill and Melinda Gates on list of potential Hillary Clinton VP candidates Napier Lopez / The Next Web : Hillary Clinton considered Bill Gates and Tim Cook for Vice President Ben Fox Rubin / CNET : Hacked emails show Tim Cook, Bill Gates considered for VP Joe Rossignol / MacRumors : Tim Cook Was Named to Hillary Clinton's List of Vice Presidential Candidates Yoni Heisler / Network World : Hillary Clinton considered Bill Gates and Tim Cook as VP candidates Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller : ‘Food Groups’ - Emails Show Clinton Campaign Organized Potential VPs By Race And Gender Nick Bunkley / Automotive News Automaker : Barra made Clinton's long working list for VP pick Mike Flaminio / Insanely Great Mac : Tim Cook VP? William Turton / Gizmodo : Apple CEO Tim Cook Was on Hillary Clinton's List of Potential Vice Presidential Canidates Lizzie Plaugic / The Verge : Clinton campaign considered Bill Gates, Tim Cook for VP CBS News : Hacked Podesta emails reveal early list of possible vice presidential candidates Don Reisinger / Fortune : Tim Cook and Bill Gates Might Have Been on Hillary Clinton's Vice President List Emily Shire / Bustle : This Leaked VP List From The Podesta Emails Reveals That Tim Cook, Bernie Sanders & Bill Gates Were All In The Running Kif Leswing / Business Insider : Hillary Clinton's campaign considered Apple CEO Tim Cook for vice president Eliza Collins / USA Today : Hacked email shows Tim Cook, Bill Gates suggested as VP choices for Clinton Ben Mathis-Lilley / Slate : Purported Podesta Email Lists VP Candidates by Race, Also Includes Bill Gates Daily Mail : Revealed: Clinton's vice-president short list included Tim Cook, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates … Monica Nickelsburg / GeekWire : Vice President Gates? WikiLeaks emails reveal Bill and Melinda were on Hillary Clinton's short list Katie Reilly / Fortune : Clinton Campaign Considered Tim Cook, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates for VP Jason Abbruzzese / Mashable : Bill Gates and Tim Cook were on Hillary Clinton's possible VP list Seth Weintraub / 9to5Mac : Apple CEO Tim Cook was considered by Hillary Clinton as US Vice President pick according to leaked emails Everett Rosenfeld / CNBC : Clinton team considered Michael Bloomberg, Tim Cook, Bill Gates for VP pick Robert Schroeder / MarketWatch : Apple's Tim Cook was on Clinton's list of possible vice-presidential candidates, according to hacked email Tweets: Alyson Shontell / @ajs : Wait, what? Hillary's camp was (loosely) considering Tim Cook and Bill or Melinda Gates for VP?? And where's Sheryl? http://www.businessinsider.com/ ... SeriousNormie / @mortauxfrousses : Podesta's VP picks ‘food groups’. It's identity politics for everyone, at all levels, in the US, now. http://bit.ly/2egJdpJ #Podesta11pic.twitter.com/Nkxo5kUBXA Mike McCormick / @mikemccormick_ : Man @BillGates would've been an amazing VP pick for Hillary. Bloomberg, Tim Cook & Melinda Gates also on the list. https://wikileaks.org/... pic.twitter.com/m9AIMYl8E3
Context & Ripple Effects
The Podesta trove is downstream of the suspected Russian hack of the DNC that put Clinton-world emails on WikiLeaks in the first place, and it lands while the FBI's recommendation not to indict Clinton over her own email handling still frames the campaign's security story. The March memo itself is a vetting artifact: before Tim Kaine, John Podesta's initial list ran to 39 names, including three sitting tech executives — Tim Cook, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates.
First-order effects
- Tim Cook is pulled into presidential-campaign coverage at the worst moment for Apple's studied neutrality: he had just hosted a fundraiser for Paul Ryan while pulling Apple from the GOP convention over Trump, and now appears on a Democratic nominee's shortlist.
Second-order effects
- The Gateses' inclusion signals the campaign was willing to vet non-politicians with no electoral base, raising the bar for what business leaders must disclose about their political entanglements once their private correspondence can surface via hacks.
Third-order effects
- The pattern holds forward: by 2020, tech money had organized around a candidate at scale — Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt, Dustin Moskovitz, and Laurene Powell Jobs all worked to boost Joe Biden — and Cook's later, carefully cultivated personal relationship with Donald Trump shows the same executives learning to hedge across both parties rather than appear on any single side's list.
The trend: Silicon Valley chiefs are evolving from check-writing donors into vetted political actors whose every partisan touchpoint — fundraisers, shortlists, leader relationships — becomes part of a permanent, leak-exposed public record.