Kevin Plank, now former CEO of Under Armour, during a CNBC interview on Mad Money on Feb. 28th, 2018.Scott Mlyn | CNBCUnder 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. 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. 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 th …
