Virtual Mentorship: Technological Disruption in Rapid Changing Industries with Horacio Gutierrez, The Walt Disney Company

Horacio Gutierrez is Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel of The Walt Disney Company. In this role, 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. His areas of accountability include litigation, compliance, transactional law, securities law, regulatory matters, privacy protection, global ethics, and patent, copyright, and trademark issues, among others.

Before joining Disney in February 2022, Mr. Gutierrez most recently served as Head of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer for Spotify, where he led 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 a number of 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.

Widely recognized as among the
most prominent capital markets
lawyers in the United States, Greg
Rodgers represents clients in
connection with a range of complex
equity, equity-linked, debt, and
hybrid securities offerings, as well
as general corporate matters. He
also serves as Global Vice Chair of
the firm's Corporate Department.
Profile
Drawing on two decades of varied
capital markets experience, Mr.
Rodgers helps companies,
investors, and investment banks
navigate their most complicated
capital markets matters. He brings
particular experience in structuring
complex and innovative
transactions. Notably, Mr. Rodgers
pioneered the direct listing
approach to becoming a public
company on behalf of Spotify.
Leveraging his sophisticated
product knowledge, Mr. Rodgers
advises on nearly every type of
capital market transaction, including
direct listings, initial public offerings,
convertible notes and equity-linked
offerings, private placements, debt
offerings, and liability management
transactions. He regularly advises
on a variety of significant domestic
and cross-border deals across all
major industries, from technology
and consumer retail to the airline
and life sciences sectors.