Civil rights pioneer Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) is praising Apple head Tim Cook for setting a new high bar for a corporation’s ability to make the world a better place.
“Tim has pushed Apple to unimaginable profitability — and greater social responsibility,” Lewis wrote in a brief profile of Cook for Time magazine. “He is setting a new standard for what business can do in the world.”
{mosads}“Tim Cook is proof that even the most successful companies can and should be judged by more than just their bottom line,” Lewis wrote.
Cook has been an outspoken advocate of the right to privacy, especially as revelations from Edward Snowden have raised global fears about snooping from the National Security Agency and other arms of government. In the wake of Snowden’s leaks, consumers around the globe have said they have lost trust in the ability of companies like Apple to keep their data safe.
Cook has also been a notable advocate on protecting the rights of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
For the normally quiet Cook, who is gay, the megaphone provided to him by leading the world’s most profitable company has had a major impact on some issues, such as opposition to statewide “religious freedom” laws earlier this year. Opponents of the laws said they would give private companies license to discriminate against LGBT people.
Lewis also praised Cook for his commitment to renewable energy, which is “leaving our planet a little cleaner and a little greener for generations yet unborn.”
The Time issue featuring the top 100 most influential people also included words by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praising Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as a “progressive champion.”
Clinton, meanwhile, was praised by the widow of the former CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs.
Laurene Powell Jobs, who is the founder of the Emerson Collective, cheered Clinton for sticking up for the rights of women, because she “is speaking not only of gender but also of justice and liberty.”