News Anchor Advised Under Armour To Contradict Negative News

Stephanie Ruhle, Kevin Plank

Under Armour’s founder Kevin Plank forged an unusual relationship with television anchor Stephanie Ruhle that included trips on his private jet, access to confidential company information and a secret phone reserved just for their communications, court records show. 

CNC reports the records, filed last week in connection with a shareholder lawsuit the athletic apparel company is facing in Maryland federal court, show that Ruhle, who was a Bloomberg reporter at the time, advised the company when it was facing negative coverage. Ruhle is now a nighttime anchor for MSNBC. Plank and Ruhle’s relationship previously came up in media coverage in 2019.

In January 2016, when Morgan Stanley published a research report that downgraded Under Armour’s stock and reduced its price target, Ruhle asked the apparel company’s executives for data that would contradict the report – and then advised they send it to media outlets like CNBC. 

Ruhle is now an MSNBC Anchor

In an email to one of Under Armour’s former communications executives Diane Pelkey, who’s now Chewy’s head of communications, Ruhle asked for “official” numbers and then suggested Pelkey “make the rounds” with the data points.

″[T]his content is perfect just in case anyone decides to cover the Morgan [Stanley] thing – it combats any risk of negativity,” Ruhle wrote in the email, according to the filings.   Pelkey replied, “Agree... Will push positive messages out. Thanks!” according to the filings.

That afternoon, Ruhle questioned the Morgan Stanley report on Bloomberg’s air and referenced data points that Plank had gathered. 

A couple of weeks later, when Under Armour reported positive quarterly results, Plank emailed Ruhle “look at that stock!!!” and then helped her arrange an interview with basketball player and Under Armour athlete Stephen Curry the following day, records show. 

Plank later told her in an email that the Curry interview served as a “a great thank you” to Ruhle “for being the only member of media to get UA’s back when [Morgan Stanley] came out against us.”