'Lead with your values,' Apple's Cook tells graduates

STORY: Cook called on graduates to lead with their "values" as they headed out into the professional world.

"My values have also helped me persevere through the tough decisions in both my professional and personal life. When people question the financial wisdom of our commitment to sustainability, I spoke my values when I made it clear that fighting climate change is and will remain one of our most important goals," he said.

"And in my own life it was my values that called me to tell the world I am gay so that I might bring a measure of hope to people still hiding who they are from the world," he added.

Cook's commencement speech came just days after Saudi Arabia's fossil fuel giant Aramco overtook Apple as the world’s largest company by market capitalization on Wednesday, based on daily closing prices, as Apple’s shares fell more than 5%.