Miami booster John Ruiz’s company ‘suspicious’

John Ruiz, once dubbed “Miami’s NIL King” by ESPN, is struggling to keep his fortress intact.

The Miami mega-booster, who has spent millions in recent years on NIL contracts for Hurricanes athletes, told investors this week that there is “substantial doubt” that his company, LifeWallet, will remain in business, according to an SEC filing.

In the SEC filing, Ruiz said LifeWallet, a large medical claims company, had revenue of $7.7 million last year and a net loss of $211 million. It is unclear whether the company’s financial woes will affect its NIL contracts with current athletes.

“The company has concluded that, notwithstanding the above-mentioned financing arrangements, there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern,” Ruiz said in an SEC filing this week. “Unless we are successful in raising additional funds by issuing debt or equity securities, we have concluded that it is not likely that we will be able to continue as a going concern beyond the next twelve months.”

Ruiz, an attorney, is the leader behind the push for a new Miami football stadium, to which he has pledged millions of dollars.

When the NIL rule was passed in 2021, Ruiz quickly emerged as one of the faces of the new era. In the first year of name, image and likeness allowances, he reportedly spent more than $10 million on athletes.

Prior to the 2022-23 season, Ruiz helped reshape Miami men’s and women’s basketball. He played a role in luring Haley and Hannah Cavinder — two of the most popular athletes of the NIL era — from Fresno State to Miami with substantial contracts. He publicly announced a two-year, $800,000 NIL contract (including a new car) for former Kansas State point guard Nigel Pack to join the Hurricanes.

When 2023 ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong reportedly threatened to leave Miami if he didn’t get more NIL money, Ruiz made it happen and convinced him to stay. That season, Miami’s women’s team reached the Elite Eight for the first time and the men’s team made its first Final Four run. After the Hurricanes’ victory over Texas in the Elite Eight that year, Miami men’s coach Jim Larranaga hugged Ruiz on the court.

Ruiz told ESPN at the time that he had discovered a blueprint for other schools to follow in the NIL era.

“If you do it right, yes,” he said then.

But NCAA and federal investigators have questioned whether Ruiz did everything right.

In 2023, the NCAA issued a sanction against Miami — its first related to the NIL — for women’s coach Katie Meyer’s role in calling a meeting between Ruiz and the Cavinder twins. The SEC and the Department of Justice are investigating LifeWallet’s operations.