Leadership

James W. Cuminale was appointed Chief Legal Officer of The Nielsen Company, the leading global information and media company, in 2006. 

Prior to joining Nielsen, Jim served as the Executive Vice President-Corporate Development, General Counsel and Secretary of PanAmSat Corporation, a leading, global satellite communications company.  He served as PanAmSat’s General Counsel since 1995.  In that role, he was responsible for all of the Company’s legal affairs, ranging from the negotiation and management of the company’s customer contracts, which represented a backlog of $5.1 billion, to compliance with securities laws, export control laws and communication laws. He was also responsible for the company’s regulatory affairs, including spectrum management and licensing and regulatory compliance with the Federal Communications Commission and regulatory agencies around the world.

Since 2001, Jim was responsible for corporate development at PanAmSat, and had the responsibility for helping the company navigate through a number of strategic transactions involving control of the company, including the sale of the company to three private equity firms in 2004, and the August 2005 agreement to sell the company to Intelsat (Bermuda), Ltd.

Prior to joining PanAmSat, Jim was a partner in the law firm of Ivey, Barnum & O’Mara in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he led the firm’s business practice group.

Jim was educated at Trinity College, where he earned his B.A. in History and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and he earned his J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University Law School.