Tim Cook responds to a question during a news conference in New York in 2015.

Tim Cook responds to a question during a news conference in New York in 2015. Richard Drew/AP file photo

These CEOs Made John Podesta’s Purported List of Potential Running Mates for Hillary Clinton

Tim Cook, Mary Barra, and Muhtar Kent were among those who made the first cut.

Tim Cook, Mary Barra, and Muhtar Kent purportedly were among the business leaders considered, however briefly, as vice presidential running mates for Hillary Clinton.

The disclosure comes courtesy of WikiLeaks, which has been releasing giant batches of communications purported to have come from the email account of Clinton’s campaign chair, John Podesta. The authenticity of the emails has not been confirmed, but the Clinton campaign has acknowledged the existence of efforts “to steal private campaign documents in order to influence an election,” and has blamed Russian hackers for the leak.

Along with sitting government officials including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Claire McCaskill, Cory Booker (misspelled in the email as “Corey” Booker), and Julian Castro—as well as Clinton’s eventual pick, Virginia senator Tim Kaine—the list contained a grouping of names from the business world.

These are the names from that section, listed alphabetically, which is how they appeared in the leaked email. We’ve added the primary professional affiliations of each.

Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of General Motors

Michael Bloomberg, founder and CEO of Bloomberg LP, former mayor of New York

Ursula Burns, chairman and CEO of Xerox

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Bill Gates, former CEO of Microsoft, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda Gates, former Microsoft executive, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola

Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation

Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks