Willow Bay

Willow Bay, born Kristine Carlin Bay on December 28, 1963, is an American television journalist, editor, author, and former model. She is widely known for her extensive career in broadcast journalism and digital media, as well as her leadership roles in higher education.

Bay was born in New York City, New York. She attended Dominican Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in New York, and graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. She went on to complete her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania before earning her MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business.

Before entering television journalism, Bay worked as a fashion model represented by Ford Models. During her modeling career, she served as a spokesperson for Estée Lauder cosmetics from 1983 to 1989.

Bay subsequently built a prominent career in news media and television. She worked as a correspondent for NBC's Today Show and served as a co-anchor for ABC's Good Morning America Sunday for four years. She also acted as a correspondent for ABC's World News Saturday and World News Sunday. From 1991 to 1998, she co-hosted NBA Inside Stuff alongside Ahmad Rashad. Later in her broadcasting career, she anchored for CNN, hosting primetime shows such as CNN & Entertainment Weekly and CNN & Fortune, as well as the flagship financial program Moneyline. In 2005 and 2006, she worked as a freelance anchor and correspondent for MSNBC and NBC News, and served as executive producer and host of Lifetime Television's Spotlight 25.

In digital media, Bay worked as a senior editor based in Los Angeles for the Huffington Post, where she helped manage the expansion of new verticals and non-political content. Through a collaboration involving the Huffington Post and Yahoo! News, she interviewed public figures including Warren Buffett and President Bill Clinton for the Newsmaker series. She has also worked as a special correspondent for Bloomberg Television and authored the 2003 book Talking to Your Kids in Tough Times: How to Answer Your Child's Questions About the World We Live In.

In her academic career, Bay previously served as director of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism before becoming the dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in 2017.

In July 2024, Bay and her husband, Bob Iger, agreed to acquire a majority stake in Angel City FC, a Los Angeles-based National Women's Soccer League team, via a $100 million investment. Upon completion of the transaction, she will control and serve on the club's board while representing the team on the league's board of governors. Bay married Iger in 1995, and the couple has two sons alongside two step-daughters.