Sami Arap joined Vale in June 2025 as its Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs at Vale. He is responsible for the areas of Legal, Regulatory, Licensing, IP, Trade Compliance and Data Protection. 

Prior to joining Vale, Sami acted as founding member and senior partner of the São Paulo-based law firm of Arap Nishi & Uyeda Advogados, and Foreign Legal Consultant in the New York City-based law firm of Fox Horan & Camerini LLP, having worked as Chief Legal Officer in Odebrecht Engineering & Construction, Enron South America and Brasil Telecom. Sami has a vast experience as a member of Board of Directors and Ethics, Governance and Risk Analysis Committees of junior mining companies in Brazil and abroad, having presided the Brazilian Rugby Federation and the Ethics Council of the Brazil Olympic Committee. 

Sami graduated at the Catholic University Law School in São Paulo, earned a Master of Comparative Jurisprudence degree with a focus in International Business Transactions with China and Southeast Asian countries at New York University – School of Law and a diploma in Business Law at the Program of Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School.