Career Biography

Marco Aurélio Cordeiro has built a singular profile in Brazilian media law, having led the legal architecture of the country’s two most prominent international journalism launches of the past decade: CNN Brasil and Times Brasil | CNBC. Over more than 20 years, his career has been built at the intersection of law, business and media, structuring complex content ventures, leading high-stakes disputes and helping major Brazilian broadcasters translate strategic ambition into operating reality.

He currently serves as Vice President of Legal, Finance and Business Affairs at Times Brasil | CNBC, the multiplatform business news operation licensed under the CNBC brand. His mandate extends beyond the traditional legal function to encompass finance, administrative matters, commercial strategy, governance and regulatory affairs. He has been directly responsible for the legal architecture of the venture, its international licensing framework and contractual model, working as a strategic partner to the executive team in launching a new media operation from the ground up.

Before Times Brasil, Marco was a founding executive and General Counsel and Compliance Officer at CNN Brasil, where he built the legal and compliance functions from scratch and supported the launch of a national news operation under an international licensing model. His remit covered governance, regulatory matters, complex contracts, commercial negotiations, compliance, litigation strategy and direct support to executive leadership. Prior to CNN Brasil, he spent approximately 15 years at RecordTV, one of Brazil’s largest broadcasting groups, as a senior legal executive and head of dispute resolution, where his work extended well beyond litigation. He played a key role in the legal structuring of some of the country’s most significant media and entertainment transactions, including major sports rights deals such as the Olympic Games and other international competitions, content licensing arrangements with leading international studios, and strategic commercial partnerships.

He also built an extensive track record of successful outcomes in press freedom and editorial independence disputes, a body of work that remains a defining feature of his career. A consistent thread in Marco’s profile is his business-driven approach to the legal function. His approach combines rigorous legal judgment with the business pace and commercial intelligence required to unlock contracts and complex deals in a profession too often associated with friction. He treats the legal department not as a control area, but as an execution partner whose role is to move the business forward without compromising risk discipline. This same philosophy has made him an early adopter of legal technology and artificial intelligence in the in-house function, with hands-on work on the integration of AI into contract workflows and legal operations. In his view, the next generation of in-house counsel will be shaped as much by the ability to design efficient, technology-enabled legal departments as by technical legal expertise. Beyond his corporate work, Marco contributes to institutional discussions on press freedom, misinformation, media regulation and the role of independent journalism in democratic societies.