About

AT&T subsidiary DIRECTV is one of the leading global digital television entertainment services provider in the US and Latin America (including Mexico and the Caribbean). In the latter market it serves over 19 million subscribers through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies and is a leading player in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. Since 2004, Michael Hartman has overseen legal, regulatory, governmental affairs and anti-piracy matters at DIRECTV Latin America, impressing nominators with his ‘truly remarkable grasp of how a large number of markets operate and how the interests of a huge [media company] can be served through legal expertise’. Hartman’s various accomplishments include guiding government relations efforts in response to new regulatory regimes in a number of countries, leading negotiations on acquisitions in Argentina, Brazil and Peru, and playing a central role in the formation of the Alliance Against Pay TV Piracy (Alianza Contra la Piratería en Televisión Paga), a pan-regional alliance of pay TV companies whose mission is to combat video piracy in the region. In 2013, Hartman’s success in handling the many regulatory and legal issues faced in Latin America was acknowledged and he was given the additional role of corporate secretary and deputy general counsel of DIRECTV in the US – adding a further 26 million customers to his list of stakeholders – while continuing to oversee matters at DIRECTV’s Latin America business. In 2015, DIRECTV was acquired by AT&T to form a newly combined entity that is now the largest pay-tv provider in the world. Hartman was well placed to advise on legal matters arising from this merger, having previously been involved in negotiating and overseeing the approvals and closings related to DIRECTV Latin America’s combination with Sky Latin America. Prior to joining DIRECTV Latin America, Hartman was general counsel at internet portal and content aggregator StarMedia Network (now CycleLogic), helping to shape the company’s strategy of targeting users in Latin America. He was previously an associate in the corporate department of Debevoise & Plimpton, where his practice focused on transactions in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula.