Vivek Ramaswamy, full name Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy, born on August 9, 1985, is a distinguished American entrepreneur and notable presidential candidate.
Renowned as the founder of Roivant Sciences, a pioneering pharmaceutical company established in 2014, Ramaswamy made headlines in February 2023 by announcing his bid for the Republican Party nomination in the upcoming 2024 United States presidential election.
Hailing from Cincinnati, Ramaswamy was born to Indian immigrant parents. He navigated his academic path through Harvard College, achieving a bachelor’s degree in biology. Subsequently, he pursued higher studies and earned a law degree (J.D.) from Yale Law School.
Before venturing into groundbreaking entrepreneurial pursuits, Ramaswamy honed his skills as an investment partner at a hedge fund. Additionally, he co-founded Strive Asset Management, an investment firm that further enriched his multifaceted career.
Ramaswamy’s stance on the nation’s current state is characterized by his assertion that the United States faces a profound national identity crisis.
Vivek Ramaswamy attributes this crisis to what he terms “new secular religions,” such as COVID-19, climate-ism, and gender ideology. He is notably critical of environmental, social, and corporate governance initiatives (ESG), expressing viewpoints that challenge conventional societal norms.
August 2023 estimates by Forbes placed Ramaswamy’s net worth at over $950 million, a testament to his success stemming from his ventures in the biotech and financial sectors.
His entrepreneurial endeavors and astute investments have bolstered his wealth and solidified his position as a significant figure in these industries.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s entry into the political arena and his outspoken views on societal issues and the nation’s trajectory mark him as a compelling figure in both entrepreneurial and political spheres.
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Vivek Ramaswamy’s Early Life
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy came into the world on August 9, 1985, in Cincinnati, Ohio, born to Indian Hindu immigrant parents, a fact well-documented through various sources.
Originating from a Brahmin family that speaks Tamil and has deep ties to Kerala, India, his father, V. Ganapathy Ramaswamy, achieved his graduation from the National Institute of Technology Calicut.
He methodically curated his career path, demonstrating excellence as an engineer and a patent attorney at General Electric.
Meanwhile, his mother, Geetha Ramaswamy, a graduate of the Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, pursued a profession in geriatric psychiatry.
His family’s roots extended back to the Palakkad district in Kerala, where they held an ancestral residence within a traditional agraharam in Vadakkencherry.
Growing up in Ohio, his familial heritage and cultural practices strongly influenced Ramaswamy’s upbringing. His formative years were shaped by regular visits to the local Hindu temple in Dayton alongside his family.
Notably, his conservative Christian piano teacher, who provided him with private lessons from elementary through high school, contributed to molding his social perspectives.
The enriching experiences of spending numerous summer vacations in India with his parents added to the richness of his cultural identity. During his high school years, Ramaswamy excelled as a nationally ranked-tennis player.
The fusion of his Indian heritage, familial values, exposure to diverse religious influences, and his active participation in sports contributed significantly to shaping the multifaceted individual Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy would grow to become.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s Education
Vivek Ramaswamy’s educational journey took him through public schooling until the eighth grade. Subsequently, he pursued his studies at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, a Catholic institution affiliated with the Jesuit order. Demonstrating exceptional academic prowess, he graduated as the valedictorian in 2003.
Continuing his pursuit of knowledge, Ramaswamy dedicated himself to academic pursuits at Harvard University, culminating in the achievement of a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology with the highest honors, graduating summa cum laude in 2007.
His academic excellence earned him membership in the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Society. He cultivated a reputation at Harvard as a bold and confident libertarian figure.
He actively engaged in campus life, participated in the Harvard Political Union, and assumed the organization’s presidency.
In an interview with The Harvard Crimson, Vivek Ramaswamy identified himself as a contrarian who relished engaging in debates.
His diverse interests extended beyond academics. He showcased his musical talent by performing Eminem covers and composing rap music with a libertarian theme, adopting the stage name and alter ego “Da Vek.” During his college tenure, he interned at prominent financial institutions such as Amaranth Advisors and Goldman Sachs.
His senior thesis exploring the ethical implications of human-animal chimeras earned him a Bowdoin Prize. In 2011, Ramaswamy received the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, a postgraduate fellowship he utilized to attend Yale Law School.
Notably, he mentioned that by the time he entered Yale, he had amassed considerable wealth from his finance, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology endeavors, boasting a net worth of around $15 million before completing his law degree in 2013.
At Yale, he forged a friendship with future U.S. Senator J.D. Vance. He graduated with a Juris Doctor, having contributed to the intellectual discourse on campus as a member of the Jewish discussion society Shabtai.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s Career
Vivek Ramaswamy’s career is a mosaic of entrepreneurial endeavors and influential involvements in biotechnology, finance, and societal activism.
Early in his career, in 2007, Ramaswamy collaborated with Travis May to establish the Campus Venture Network. This innovative venture created a private social networking platform catering to university students aspiring to venture into entrepreneurship.
Eventually, this company was acquired by the non-profit Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in 2009. Transitioning into the financial realm, Ramaswamy spent nearly seven years, from 2007 to 2014, at the hedge fund QVT Financial.
He ascended to a partnership role and co-managed the firm’s biotech portfolio. He was instrumental in steering strategic investments in various biotech companies, such as Palatin Technologies, Concert Pharmaceuticals, Pharmasset, and Retrophin, led by Martin Shkreli.
Notably, Ramaswamy expressed a controversial viewpoint on Shkreli, labeling him “brilliant” and a pathological liar, while critiquing the U.S. Department of Justice’s actions against Shkreli.
The transformative chapter in Ramaswamy’s career began in 2014 when he founded Roivant Sciences, a groundbreaking biotech firm.
Roivant, established in Bermuda and known for its tax advantages, secured significant initial funding of nearly $100 million from investors such as QVT and R.A. Capital Management, D.E. Shaw & Co., Visium Asset Management, and Falcon Edge Capital.
Ramaswamy’s strategy centered on acquiring pharmaceutical patents from larger companies and repurposing them, birthing numerous subsidiaries such as Dermavant, Urovant, Sinovant, and Cytovant, targeting various therapeutic markets.
In 2015, Roivant’s subsidiary Axovant Sciences raised a substantial $360 million in an attempt to market intepirdine as an Alzheimer’s drug despite its previous clinical trial failures under GlaxoSmithKline.
The company gained substantial attention, with Ramaswamy forecasting it as a groundbreaking venture in the pharmaceutical industry.
However, Axovant faced a massive setback in 2017 when intepirdine failed in a significant clinical trial, leading to a staggering 75% drop in its value in a single day. Despite subsequent attempts at reinvention, Axovant dissolved in 2023.
Throughout Roivant’s trajectory, Ramaswamy engaged in strategic partnerships, including collaborations with CITIC Group and securing investments from SoftBank, contributing to Roivant’s financial landscape.
Notably, the sale of Roivant subsidiaries to Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma in 2019 saw Ramaswamy accruing significant capital gains.
In a departure from his entrepreneurial pursuits, Ramaswamy demonstrated his commitment to societal impact through Roivant Social Ventures (RSV), a non-profit arm established in 2020 under Roivant Sciences.
While his presidential campaign centered on opposing corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives, RSV actively supported pro-DEI and ESG initiatives, advocating health equity and diversity within the biopharma and biotech industries.
Parallel to his ventures in biotech, Ramaswamy co-founded Chapter Medicare, a Medicare navigation platform in 2020, and contributed to Ohio’s COVID-19 Response Team.
Additionally, Ramaswamy extended his influence as chairman of OnCore Biopharma and Arbutus Biopharma, showcasing his broad involvement within the biotech sector.
Venturing into activism in early 2022, he co-founded Strive Asset Management alongside his high school friend Anson Frericks.
Strive positioned itself as an “anti-woke” asset management firm, rallying against ESG and promoting shareholder primacy, gathering investments from notable figures like Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance, and Bill Ackman.
Ramaswamy’s vocal criticism of ESG initiatives, reflected in his book “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam” and the Subsequent “Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence,” cemented his stance.
His involvement with Strive and its flagship fund, the exchange-traded fund DRLL, set a tone advocating for “anti-woke” ideologies in the energy sector.
Ramaswamy’s endeavors, however, faced scrutiny when his meetings with South Carolina lawmakers to pitch Strive for managing pension funds were viewed as a form of unregistered lobbying.
In February 2023, amidst his burgeoning presidential campaign, Ramaswamy resigned from Strive to focus entirely on his political aspirations.
Despite these ventures, Ramaswamy retains a significant stake in Roivant Sciences, serving as the sixth-largest shareholder with a 7.17% stake. Roivant, however, has never been profitable.
This multifaceted journey through biotech, finance, activism, and societal impact delineates the intricate trajectory of Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy’s career, underscoring his diverse contributions to various sectors while navigating the complex intersection of entrepreneurship, finance, and societal issues.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s Presidential campaign
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy’s political journey has been marked by affiliations, contributions, and a recently declared bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
His initial engagement in politics showcased a varied spectrum of involvement. Ramaswamy’s voting history revealed his early support for the Libertarian Party’s Michael Badnarik in 2004. However, he abstained from voting in subsequent presidential elections until 2020, when he supported Donald Trump.
When he registered to vote in Franklin County, Ohio, in November 2021, his political affiliation was listed as ‘unaffiliated,’ despite his self-identification as a Republican. Ramaswamy’s political contributions were diverse, spanning both Democrat and Republican candidates.
He donated to the campaign of Dena Grayson, a Florida Democrat running for Congress in 2016, and later contributed $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party from 2020 to 2023. Additionally, Ramaswamy contemplated a run in Ohio’s 2022 U.S. Senate election.
Transitioning to his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Ramaswamy officially announced his candidacy on Tucker Carlson Tonight in February 2023. His campaign was notable for releasing 20 years of individual income tax returns, positioning himself as a self-funded candidate.
While his fundraising trailed behind notable figures like Trump and Ron DeSantis, Ramaswamy strategically appealed to the evangelical Christian right and Christian nationalist voters within the Republican base despite skepticism due to his Hindu faith.
Ramaswamy delineated political positions encompassing a broad spectrum of policies and beliefs throughout his campaign.
He aligned himself with Trump despite running against him in the primary, pledged support to pardon Trump if elected, and indicated the possibility of pardoning Julian Assange, Ross Ulbricht, and Edward Snowden.
His proposed executive power expansion, including promises to fire federal employees, dismantle civil service protections, and abolish federal agencies, highlighted a drastic shift in governance approaches.
Additionally, Ramaswamy advocated for altering voting ages and ending birthright citizenship, presenting a series of controversial proposals. His stances on social issues, including his opposition to affirmative action, abortion, and LGBTQ rights, marked his conservative positions.
Ramaswamy’s advocacy against climate change initiatives and support for a high-carbon lifestyle challenged conventional environmental policies, embracing fossil fuel utilization while critiquing what he termed the “climate cult.”
Furthermore, Ramaswamy’s foreign policy perspectives exhibited a mix of positions, from advocating for concessions to Russia over the Russo-Ukrainian War to supporting Taiwan’s independence. His stance on military aid to countries like Ukraine and his condemnation of Azerbaijan’s military operations revealed a complex view on international relations.
Additionally, he supported Israel’s right to self-defense while suggesting conditioning aid to Israel based on their actions. Ramaswamy’s campaign was open to controversy. His promotion of right-wing conspiracy theories, including claims regarding the January 6 attack and election fraud, stirred significant debate and skepticism.
Moreover, his varied positions on foreign affairs, executive power, social policies, and climate change drew both support and criticism, showcasing the complexity of his political platform.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s Personal Life
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy’s life showcases a dynamic balance between family, cultural heritage, and professional commitments.
His wife, Apoorva Tewari Ramaswamy, is a skilled laryngologist and surgeon, and their relationship began during their time at Yale—Vivek studying law while Apoorva pursued medicine.
They tied the knot in 2015 and have been blessed with two sons, nurturing a growing family dynamic. In addition, Ramaswamy shares a close bond with his younger brother, Shankar, who previously collaborated with him at Axovant and later co-founded Kriya Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical venture.
Embracing his Hindu faith, Ramaswamy identifies as a monotheistic Hindu. He is fluent in Tamil and knowledgeable in Malayalam (though not conversational), so he values his cultural roots.
Reflecting his beliefs, he adheres to a vegetarian lifestyle, advocating against the harm of sentient animals for culinary indulgence. Ramaswamy’s financial success has been a subject of interest, with varying estimates of his net worth. While his campaign advisor asserted his net worth exceeded $1 billion in 2023, Forbes approximated it at over $950 million.
His living arrangements have also undergone transitions. Although residing in Manhattan in 2016, Ramaswamy reported ownership of a house in Butler County, Ohio, as of 2021.
However, by 2023, he solely declared ownership of a residence in Columbus, Ohio, situated within Franklin County. Notably, a 2023 Politico profile spotlighted his habitation in a $2 million estate in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.
Vivek Ramaswamy’s writing
- “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam.” Published by Center Street in New York in 2021. ISBN: 978-1546090786. OCLC: 1237631944.
- “Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence.” Published by Center Street in New York in 2022. ISBN: 978-1546002963. OCLC: 1546002960.
- “Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street Is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn’t Vote For.” Published by Broadside Books in New York in 2023. ISBN: 978-0063337756. OCLC: 1362864450.
FAQs about Vivek Ramaswamy
Where was Vivek Ramaswamy born?
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy entered the world on August 9, 1985, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Indian Hindu immigrant parents. His parents hail from Kerala and belong to the Tamil-speaking Brahmin community.
Who is the author of Woke Inc?
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy, an American entrepreneur and presidential candidate, established Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company, in 2014.
In February 2023, Ramaswamy announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination in the 2024 United States presidential election.
Who is the founder of Roivant Sciences?
In 2015, Vivek Ramaswamy established Roivant. His initial approach involved in-licensing drug candidates and forming specialized subsidiaries centered around distinct therapeutic areas.
Why did Vivek Ramaswamy step down?
Ramaswamy progressively scaled back his involvement within the company, relinquishing his position as chief executive officer at the beginning of 2021.
Subsequently, he departed from his role as chairman in February of the same year to concentrate on his presidential campaign.
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