We are pleased to introduce the HNBF’s 2022 Corporate Leadership awardee. Please join us as we honor Horacio Gutierrez for his outstanding achievements and his commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Horacio Gutierrez was named Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of The Walt Disney Company in February 2022. Mr. Gutierrez serves as the chief legal officer of the Company, overseeing its team of attorneys responsible for all aspects of Disney’s legal affairs around the world, and acting as a strategic advisor to executive leadership and the Board of Directors.
Previously, Mr. Gutierrez was Head of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer for Spotify, leading a global, multi-disciplinary team of business, corporate communications and public affairs, government relations, licensing, operations, and legal professionals responsible for the company’s work in areas including industry relations, content partnerships, public policy, and trust & safety. He was previously Spotify’s General Counsel and Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs from 2016 to 2019.
Prior to joining Spotify, Mr. Gutierrez was Corporate Vice President and General Counsel for Microsoft, overseeing the company’s legal affairs around the world, including support of the complete lifecycle of Microsoft’s products and services, from research and development to business development activities, M&A, litigation, legal compliance, and cybercrime prevention. He initially joined Microsoft in 1998 as Corporate Attorney, LATAM, and held several positions of increasing responsibility throughout the legal department during his 17-year tenure with the company, including Associate General Counsel, EMEA from 2002 to 2006; Deputy General Counsel, Intellectual Property and Licensing Group from 2006 to 2014; and Deputy General Counsel, Products and Services Group from 2014 to 2015.
Mr. Gutierrez was recognized with the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Latino In-House Attorney of the Year award and was named FT North America’s Most Innovative General Counsel in 2018. Previously, Mr. Gutierrez received the Lawyer of the Americas award from the Inter-American Law Review and was named IAM Magazine’s IP Personality of the Year as well as Most Influential Global IP Market Maker.
Mr. Gutierrez holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from Harvard Law School, which he attended as a Fulbright scholar; a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree summa cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law; and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree and post-graduate diploma in corporate and commercial law from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, Venezuela.
Mr. Gutierrez is admitted to practice law in the States of New York, Florida and Washington, as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit. In addition, he is admitted to practice as a Registered In-House Counsel in the State of California.
