MS NOW Moves Ali Velshi To Anchor Its Popular ‘The 11th Hour’

Photo: Screenshot/Instagram

India-West News Desk

NEW YORK, NY – Ali Velshi is set to anchor ‘The 11th Hour’ on MS NOW, taking over the network’s final live program of the day as part of a broader programming reshuffle announced this week.

Velshi, a veteran journalist who has been with MSNBC since 2016, will transition from hosting weekend hours to the weeknight slot. The current anchor, Stephanie Ruhle, will move to a new two-hour mid-morning show.

The changes are scheduled to take effect in June 2026. Velshi will continue in his role as chief data reporter, a position in which he has been a central figure during election coverage, even as he takes on the added responsibility of anchoring ‘The 11th Hour.’

Velshi’s personal story spans continents. Born in Kenya and raised in Toronto, he is the son of Murad Velshi, an Indian origin businessman who later became the first Indian Canadian elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Velshi is an Ismaili Muslim of Indian descent.

His family history is closely intertwined with major moments of the 20th century. His grandfather, Rajabali, as a child in Johannesburg, was carried on the shoulders of Mahatma Gandhi, who spent more than two decades in South Africa. Rajabali later studied at Tolstoy Farm, the ashram founded by Gandhi.

Velshi has documented this legacy in his memoir, ‘Small Acts of Courage’. His family later moved from South Africa to Kenya in 1960 amid the tightening grip of apartheid, before eventually settling in Canada, where his parents built a successful travel business.