Denise Bailey-Castro

Biography

Denise Bailey-Castro is Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer of Westbrook Inc., Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s independent media company. Her work sits at the intersection of creativity, culture and business, where she leads finance and operations while helping shape content investments, strategic partnerships, and new growth opportunities. Previously, she served as Brand CFO for BET Media Group at Paramount, overseeing a billion-dollar-plus portfolio across linear, streaming, studios, live events and digital. Her career spans media and entertainment, with prior roles at Viacom, HBO, Paramount Pictures and JPMorgan.

Sessions

1. Your IP Is the New Real Estate

   Tue, Nov 3, 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM CT

   Track Entrepreneurship

   For generations, real estate was the primary vehicle for building and transferring wealth. Today, your voice, likeness, content, and personal brand can do what property once did: generate income, appreciate in value, and be passed down. Denise Bailey-Castro and Thai Randolph have built companies on this thesis. This conversation is about how to structure your IP as a real wealth-building asset and what to do right now to start.