Stephanie Ruhle Under Scrutiny For ‘Unusual Relationship’ With Under Armour CEO After Court Records Reveal Secret Communications
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The relationship between MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle and Under Armour founder Kevin Plank is drawing renewed scrutiny — as new court filings show secret communications while Ruhle covered the athletic gear manufacturer during her time with Bloomberg.
The connection between Ruhle and Plank has been a recurring media story for years — reporters have previously revealed Ruhle’s flights on Plank’s private jet, her history of giving him business advice, and speculation they were romantically involved, despite both being married. Ruhle and Plank have maintained they are just friends.
On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported on unsealed documents indicating that Ruhle had a secret phone and a private email account through which she and Plank regularly communicated. CNBC also reported on the “unusual relationship,” noting it involved Ruhle giving Plank advice on negative media coverage.
The documents emerged as the result of a lawsuit filed by Under Armour’s shareholders, who claimed the company artificially inflated its share price and caused them to lose money. The documents allege Ruhle was sent a secret recording of Plank discussing the brand’s finances with other executives before he stepped down as CEO in 2019. He remains the executive chairman.
In his deposition, Plank called Ruhle “a confidant,” saying “I would give her counsel on her career and she would give me counsel on things I was dealing with that were either banking or media or human nature in relation.”
“She didn’t trade in this, her family doesn’t trade in this,” He insisted. “She’s simply giving me input.”
In Ruhle’s deposition, she revealed Plank gave her a phone that was separate from her personal and work phones.
“We were friends, and I covered his company,” Ruhle said. When asked if she flew on Plank’s jet as a friend or in her work capacity, Ruhle said “I was flying on his plane as myself, Stephanie Ruhle. I’m not really in a category one or the other.”
Ruhle hasn’t publicly addressed the news yet, but did seem to poke fun at the coverage in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
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