We See You: Stephanie Ruhle

Why we’re watching her: The Wall Street exec turned media maven is the host of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour where she combines serious news chops with cool girl vibes.

Pedigree: Ruhle, 48, grew up in Bergen County, NJ. She moved up the ranks at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank to become a managing director with a specialty in credit derivatives before moving on to news. She was also a fierce advocate for women in finance. “I have New Jersey hustle,” she told New Jersey Monthly. “My mom used to tell me, ‘You’re not the smartest, you’re not the tallest, you’re not the fastest, you’re not the most beautiful, but nobody can outwork you. You can do anything you set your mind to.’ That’s just the most Jersey approach ever, right?”

Catch her in the wild: While weekdays find Ruhle, husband Andy Hubbard, and their three kids, in their Manhattan townhouse, come summer this least pretentious of anchors skips the Hamptons to hang with family on Jersey’s Long Beach Island. “LBI has given all of us the greatest escape from our busy, scheduled New York City life,” she told New Jersey Monthly. “We can literally shout out the window and our neighbors will come over for s’mores after dinner. Having that community, that safe haven, with neighbors, cousins, grandparents—it’s truly a blessing.”

From moola to media: Despite her success in banking, Ruhle always harbored a dream of working in news but it took the financial crisis of 2008 for her to make a move. “I came to the conclusion that if I am going to be away from my kids all these hours, I want to do something I love,” she told the student newspaper, The Knight Errant.

After getting her start on Bloomberg Television, she joined MSNBC, working across a number of shows before landing her own time slot. “We have a complicated country,” Ruhle told New Jersey Monthly. “Viewers who have never watched you may assume you have an ideology or you’re pushing an agenda. Um, no. There’s no right or left with me. You know what there is? The truth. And that, to me, is a very Jersey thing.”

Climbing (a different) corporate ladder: “I do not have much time to exercise,” Ruhle admitted to the NBC blog, Better Health. “I have a rule: if I’m traveling three stories or less, the elevator is not an option. I’ve become a master of the 30 Rock stairwells, which, if you’ve ever been in a skyscraper in midtown Manhattan, is a huge feat.” 

Party spirit animal: The cheetah, known for its quick wit, speed, flexibility, and passion.

Prediction: Pretty much the only prediction we feel comfortable making for 2024 is that Ruhle will be here, there and everywhere with her Jersey girl, no BS insights. We’ve never needed her more.