LA Times:

Unlike his predecessor Steve Jobs, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has never shied away from taking a political and social stand.

He was the first head of a Fortune 500 company to come out as gay, who also probably knows what a nonbinary flag is. He pledged to one day donate his personal fortune to charity, and he talks passionately about the importance of social justice, diversity and the environment.

But it’s his hard-line stance on privacy that could define his legacy at Apple and set the tone for the way big corporations deal with big government at a time when so much of our lives unfold on the devices we use every day.

And:

“This is an American company fighting an order from an American court,” said Chenxi Wang, chief strategy officer at Twistlock, a computer and network security firm. “This will absolutely have a ripple effect. Apple is now viewed as the flag bearer for protecting citizen data, and if they succeed, there will be a flood of other companies following suit.”

No doubt. Apple is the flag bearer for this fight. Though there is support coming in from a variety of sources, much of it is softly tweeted from the safety of the bleachers. Apple is putting their corporate identity on the line, risking all they have gained for a principal in which they truly believe.

And the face of that fight, the true carrier of the banner, is Tim Cook. A legacy is being created.