Larry Samuelson

C-Suite Legal & Business Executive | Led Several $5B+ IPOs, Go-Privates & Strategic Exits | Trusted Advisor to Founders, CEOs & Public Company Boards | Public, Pre-IPO & PE-Backed High-Growth Companies

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

About

Strategic judgment. Enterprise scale. Results under pressure. I am a BigLaw corporate-law trained, C-suite legal and business executive who has spent the last 25+ years operating at the intersection of strategy, governance, capital markets, and execution—advising CEOs, boards, founders, and private-equity sponsors through moments that define enterprise value. My career has been built inside complex, high-growth organizations ranging from pre-IPO to multi-billion-dollar public companies, where legal leadership is inseparable from business outcomes. I have led global legal, compliance, governance, and risk functions while serving as a trusted operating partner to CEOs, CFOs, Chief Revenue Officers, Chief People Officers and Chief Information Officers during transformational events—including IPOs, go-private transactions, PE exits, and strategic M&A. Most recently, as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Dotmatics, I was hired as the company’s first CLO to prepare the business for an IPO or sale. I built and scaled the global legal function, supported a high-velocity acquisition strategy, partnered with revenue leadership to accelerate deal execution, and ultimately led the legal strategy and execution of Dotmatics’ $5.12B sale to Siemens, delivering a 39x forward EBITDA multiple. Previously, as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Cvent, I served as a core member of the executive leadership team from IPO through multiple exits—a $135M IPO, a $1.65B Vista PE take-private (69% premium), and a $5.3B de-SPAC IPO—while scaling the organization to 4,000+ employees globally and navigating COVID-era disruption with sustained net revenue retention above 100%. Across roles, my remit has consistently extended beyond “legal”: • Enterprise risk, governance, and board leadership • Capital structure, executive compensation, and equity strategy • M&A and post-merger integration • Global compliance, privacy, cybersecurity, and ESG • Interim executive leadership, including Global Head of HR I am most effective in environments where judgment, trust, and velocity matter—helping leadership teams evaluate tradeoffs, manage risk as a growth enabler, and execute decisively during periods of transformation. Today, I partner with CEOs, boards, and sponsors who need a commercially grounded legal executive—someone who can operate as a business leader, not a gatekeeper, and who has repeatedly delivered at scale when the stakes are highest.

Experience

  • Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary at Semperis
    May 2026 - Present · 3 mos

    As Chief Legal Officer, Larry overseas Semperis’ legal strategy, deal execution, corporate governance, compliance and corporate affairs. He manages a team of 8 professionals.

  • Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary at Dotmatics
    Apr 2022 - Nov 2025 · 3 yrs 8 mos

    • Hired to prepare the company for an IPO or strategic sale. • Successfully managed the strategic sale of Dotmatics to Siemens AG for $5.12B (39x forward EBITDA). • Oversaw all global legal, compliance, AI governance and data privacy matters for Dotmatics, a leader in pre-clinical R&D scientific software (delivered both on-prem and via cloud). Managed a global legal team comprised of 3 legal professionals. • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to align legal strategies with business objectives, enhancing decision-making processes, efficiency and scale. Sponsor: Insight Partners

  • Cvent (8 yrs 11 mos)
    • Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
      Jun 2016 - Apr 2022 · 5 yrs 11 mos

      • Hired to prepare the company for an IPO and implement public company Board governance. I successfully managed Cvent’s 2013 IPO (NYSE: CVT), 2016 go-private sale to Vista Private Equity, and 2021 go-public via de-SPAC (Nasdaq: CVT). • Responsible for all of Cvent’s legal, privacy, regulatory, compliance and Board affairs. I oversaw M&A, privacy steering committee, credit facility refinancing and covenant compliance, SaaS licensing, employment matters, IP, litigation management and SEC reporting, managing a global legal team of 16 legal professionals. Sponsor: Vista Private Equitiy

    • VP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
      Jun 2013 - Jun 2016 · 3 yrs 1 mo

      Cvent is a private-equity backed high-growth SaaS company with a comprehensive suite of products that automate and simplify the entire event management process and maximize the impact of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events. Sponsors: Insight Partners and New Enterprise Associates

  • VP, Deputy General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at NeuStar, Inc.
    Jan 2011 - May 2013 · 2 yrs 5 mos

    I served as a key leader that executed the CEO’s goal to transform the telecommunications company into a data management company. I was responsible for all legal aspects of NeuStar (NYSE: NSR) public company compliance, executive compensation, M&A, corporate finance, commercial contracts and employment matters. Managed 2 securities lawyers and the 5-person contracts management team.

  • Assistant General Counsel & Assistant Secretary at DynCorp International
    Jul 2009 - Jan 2011 · 1 yr 7 mos

    As Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary, I provided strategic legal advice to the C-Suite and Board regarding all legal aspects of DynCorp (NYSE: DCP) public company compliance, M&A, corporate finance and public relations. In July 2010, I managed the go-private sale and LBO financing of DynCorp to Cerberus Capital Management. Sponsors: Veritas Capital (until 2010); Cerberus Capital Management.