Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy is an American entrepreneur and politician. He founded the biotech company Roivant Sciences in 2014 and served as its CEO until 2021. In 2023, he ran for the Republican presidential nomination, withdrawing after the Iowa caucuses in January 2024 and endorsing Donald Trump. He launched a campaign for Ohio governor in February 2025, receiving Trump's endorsement.
On August 9, 1985, Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy was born. He is an American entrepreneur and politician.
In 2003, Ramaswamy graduated as valedictorian from St. Xavier High School, a Catholic school in Cincinnati.
In 2004, Ramaswamy said that he voted for Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee.
In 2007, Ramaswamy and Travis May co-founded Campus Venture Network, which published a private social networking website for university students who aspired to launch a business.
In 2007, Ramaswamy graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in biology, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. During his time at Harvard, he was known as a confident libertarian, led the Harvard Political Union, performed Eminem covers as "Da Vek", interned for Amaranth Advisors and Goldman Sachs, and wrote a senior thesis on human-animal chimeras, earning a Bowdoin Prize.
In 2007, Ramaswamy joined the hedge fund QVT Financial.
Ramaswamy did not vote in the 2008 presidential election.
In 2009, Campus Venture Network was sold to the nonprofit Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
In 2011, Ramaswamy was awarded a post-graduate fellowship by The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.
Ramaswamy did not vote in the 2012 presidential election.
In 2013, Ramaswamy earned a Juris Doctor degree. He attended Yale, befriended JD Vance, and was a member of Shabtai society during law school.
In December 2014, Axovant purchased the patent for intepirdine from GlaxoSmithKline for $5 million.
In 2014, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a biotechnology firm incorporated in Bermuda. The company received almost $100 million in start-up capital from QVT and other investors, and aimed to purchase patents for underdeveloped drugs from larger pharmaceutical companies and bring them to the market.
In 2014, Ramaswamy left QVT Financial, where he had been a partner and co-managed the firm's biotech portfolio.
In March 2015, Ramaswamy was chairman of OnCore Biopharma, a position he maintained at Tekmira Pharmaceuticals when the two companies merged.
In 2015, Ramaswamy appeared on the cover of Forbes and stated that his company would "be the highest return on investment endeavor ever taken up in the pharmaceutical industry." He engineered Axovant's initial public offering (IPO), raising $315 million and leading to a market value of almost $3 billion.
In 2015, Ramaswamy married Apoorva Tewari, a laryngologist and surgeon, whom he met at Yale.
In 2016, Ramaswamy donated $2,700 to the campaign of Dena Grayson, a Florida Democrat running for Congress.
Ramaswamy did not vote in the 2016 presidential election.
In September 2017, Axovant announced that intepirdine had failed in its large clinical trial, causing the company's value to plunge by 75% in one day.
In 2017, Ramaswamy took no public position on the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
In 2017, Roivant partnered with CITIC Private Equity of the Chinese state-owned CITIC Group to form Sinovant. Also in 2017, Ramaswamy struck a deal with Masayoshi Son in which SoftBank invested $1.1 billion in Roivant.
An earlier iteration of Roivant Social Ventures (RSV), the Roivant Foundation, was created in 2018.
In 2018, Ramaswamy said he had no regrets about how Axovant handled intepirdine.
In 2019, Roivant sold its stake in five subsidiaries to Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma. Ramaswamy made $175 million in capital gains from the sale, and Sumitomo Dainippon gained a 10% stake in Roivant.
From 2020 to 2023, Ramaswamy donated $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party.
In 2020, Ramaswamy asserted that "big tech" stole the 2020 election and that the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was "the Democratic Party's platform".
In 2020, Ramaswamy co-founded Chapter Medicare, a Medicare navigation platform. He also served on the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team.
In 2020, Ramaswamy proposed changes to voting eligibility, suggesting citizens between 18 and 24 should only vote if enlisted in the military, work as first responders, or pass the civics test. Nearly 9% of voters in the 2020 general election were under 25.
In 2020, Ramaswamy wrote, "I believe it is wrong to kill sentient animals for culinary pleasure," stating his vegetarian belief.
In 2020, while Ramaswamy was CEO of Roivant Sciences, the company established a nonprofit social-impact arm, Roivant Social Ventures (RSV).
On January 6, 2021, Ramaswamy condemned the attack on the Capitol, but argued that social media bans on Trump violate the First Amendment. Later, while running for president, Ramaswamy repeatedly claimed that the January 6 attack "was an inside job".
In January 2021, Ramaswamy stepped down as CEO of Roivant Sciences and became executive chairman.
In November 2021, Ramaswamy registered to vote in Franklin County, Ohio, as "unaffiliated", but described himself as a Republican.
In 2021, Ramaswamy owned a house in Butler County, Ohio.
In 2021, Ramaswamy stepped down as CEO of Roivant Sciences.
In September 2022, Ramaswamy published his second book, "Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence", a few months before announcing his presidential candidacy.
In October 2022, Ramaswamy held closed-door meetings with South Carolina lawmakers to pitch Strive to manage South Carolina pension funds.
In 2022, Ramaswamy urged Chevron to increase oil production and criticized its support for a carbon tax. Ramaswamy's company holds a 0.02% stake in Chevron.
In 2022, Strive launched its flagship fund, the exchange-traded fund DRLL, as an "anti-woke" energy sector index fund.
In early 2022, Ramaswamy co-founded Strive Asset Management with Anson Frericks. The firm raised about $20 million from outside investors, including Peter Thiel, JD Vance, and Bill Ackman.
Ramaswamy considered running in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Ohio.
In February 2023, Ramaswamy resigned as executive chairman of Strive to focus on his presidential campaign.
In February 2023, Ramaswamy stepped down as chair of Roivant to focus on his presidential campaign.
On February 21, 2023, Ramaswamy declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2024 on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
In May 2023, Ramaswamy's campaign admitted to paying an editor to alter his Wikipedia biography before announcing his candidacy. The edits removed references to his postgraduate fellowship and involvement with the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team. The campaign denied attempting to "scrub" his page, claiming the edits were revisions of factual distortions.
In June 2023, the meetings Ramaswamy held in October 2022 with South Carolina lawmakers were criticized as unregistered lobbying.
From February to July 2023, Ramaswamy loaned his campaign more than $15 million.
After Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Ramaswamy said that in his view, "Israel should be able to make the decisions of how it defends itself", while suggesting that the U.S. should provide a "diplomatic Iron Dome" for Israel.
In November 2023, Ramaswamy condemned Azerbaijan's military operation against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and said that the U.S. should block all its military aid to Azerbaijan.
From 2020 to 2023, Ramaswamy donated $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party.
In 2023, Axovant dissolved after attempting to reinvent itself as a gene therapy company.
In 2023, Ramaswamy declared his candidacy for the Republican presidential primaries.
In 2023, Ramaswamy stated that he already had a net worth of around $15 million before graduating from law school due to his activities in finance, pharmaceutical, and biotech.
In 2023, Ramaswamy's net worth was estimated at more than $950 million. He reported owning a house in Columbus, Ohio, in Franklin County, and lived in a $2 million estate in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.
In 2023, after Trump was indicted on federal criminal charges, Ramaswamy immediately rallied behind him and promised to pardon Trump if elected president.
In a 2023 speech and in his book Woke Inc., Ramaswamy called Martin Shkreli both "brilliant" and a pathological liar. He criticized the U.S. Department of Justice for prosecuting Shkreli, calling his fraud a victimless crime.
In January 2024, Forbes estimated Ramaswamy's net worth to be $960 million, attributing his wealth to biotech and financial businesses.
In January 2024, Ramaswamy finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses and withdrew his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Following this, he endorsed Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential election.
In May 2024, Ramaswamy acquired a 7.7% stake in BuzzFeed, later increased to 8.4%, becoming the second-largest Class A shareholder. He suggested hiring conservative pundits and new directors.
In 2024, Ramaswamy vocally supported Trump, despite running against each other for the 2024 Republican nomination.
In 2024, after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses, Ramaswamy ended his campaign and endorsed Trump. Throughout the remainder of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Ramaswamy served the Trump campaign as a political surrogate, representing the campaign and attending campaign events.
In 2024, after the election, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Ramaswamy and Elon Musk would lead the newly proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, Ramaswamy never worked with the DOGE team.
On February 21, 2023, Ramaswamy declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2024 on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
On February 15, 2025, Ramaswamy filed to enter the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial election.
In February 2025, Ramaswamy launched his campaign for the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial election and received an endorsement from President Trump.
In 2026, Ramaswamy dropped out of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) to focus on a potential 2026 Ohio gubernatorial campaign. This departure was reportedly due to friction between Ramaswamy and other DOGE leadership and staff.
In 2026, Ramaswamy officially announced his run for Ohio governor and got the endorsement from President Donald Trump.
Ramaswamy launched his 2026 Ohio gubernatorial campaign in February 2025 and received an endorsement from President Trump.
In 2028, Ramaswamy said the U.S. should not militarily defend Taiwan from Chinese attack after the U.S. has achieved semiconductor independence.
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