Longtime Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero – who led the port through an era of rapid cargo growth, a global pandemic and major modernization – announced Oct. 2 he will retire at the end of 2025, capping a varied career that included an 8½-year run as Port CEO, seven years on the Federal Maritime Commission in Washington, D.C. and eight years as a member of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners.
Known for bold and industry-leading stances promoting environmental sustainability and boosting market competitiveness, as well as his optimistic outlook, Cordero has also become a noted thought leader in international trade in great demand for speaking engagements, media interviews and service on public boards of directors.
As CEO of the Port of Long Beach, reporting to the five-member Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, Cordero leads a staff of about 600 professionals who improve, market and secure one-half of the nation’s largest trade gateway. In addition to his port industry career accomplishments, he is an attorney and educator.
Cordero in May 2017 said he was blessed to have landed a “dream job” when he was selected as the new chief executive of the Port of Long Beach, returning to Long Beach after his stint as an appointee of President Barack Obama to the body that oversees the nation’s maritime policy. His time on the FMC beginning in 2011 included four years as chairman.
He steps down at the end of a yearlong celebration marking two decades of the port’s environmental progress – “20 Years of Leading Green” – achieved in parallel with growth of the port’s economic benefits, such as 2.7 million jobs nationwide today tied to trade moving through Long Beach. The 20 years being commemorated started with the Green Port Policy proposed by then-commissioner Cordero circa 2005.
“I could not be more grateful for what has been the opportunity of a lifetime to lead the Port of Long Beach over these past several years. While I’ll miss being in the center of the action for international trade, I know that I’m leaving the Port in the very capable hands of our Board of Harbor Commissioners and the exemplary staff,” said Cordero. “It’s been a very rewarding experience and I have amassed wonderful memories that I will cherish forever.
He was appointed to the Board of Harbor Commissioners in 2003 by then-Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill and reappointed in 2009 by then-Mayor Bob Foster, serving as both president and vice president of the board during his tenure. It was during his time on the Harbor Commission that he proposed the Green Port Policy, a commitment by the port to environmental sustainability that was ratified in 2005. The action was a turning point for the port, which committed to considering the environment in all of its decisions going forward – leading to dramatically cleaner air, healthier harbors and today’s goal of seeking zero-emissions operations.
Cordero, the Los Angeles-born son of Mexican immigrants, was the first in his family to attend college, and his father urged him to pursue engineering as a career. The young Cordero however came to the realization that he wanted to become a lawyer to make a difference in society, given the call for activism in the early 1970s. He earned a Bachelor of Science in political science from California State University, Long Beach, before going on to earn a law degree at the University of Santa Clara.
He practiced law for more than 30 years, and also taught political science part-time for many years at Long Beach City College.
In addition to his port responsibilities, Cordero was appointed by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to serve on the bank’s Los Angeles branch seven-member board of directors effective Jan. 1, 2021.
In 2025, for the seventh consecutive year, he was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “LA500” list of the city’s most influential civic leaders.
The Board of Harbor Commissioners will determine a process for replacing Cordero in the months ahead.