History of Vivek Ramaswamy in Timeline
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy is an American entrepreneur and politician known for founding Roivant Sciences, a biotech company. He gained national attention as a presidential candidate in the 2024 Republican primaries, ultimately withdrawing and endorsing Donald Trump. Subsequently, he launched a campaign for the 2026 Ohio governor's election, securing endorsements from both Donald Trump and the Ohio Republican Party.
August 9, 1985: Vivek Ramaswamy Born
On August 9, 1985, Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy was born. He is an American entrepreneur and politician.
2003: Graduated as valedictorian
In 2003, Ramaswamy graduated as valedictorian from Cincinnati's St. Xavier High School.
2004: Voted for Michael Badnarik
In 2004, Ramaswamy voted for Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee.
2007: Worked at QVT Financial
From 2007, Ramaswamy worked at the hedge fund QVT Financial.
2007: Co-founded Campus Venture Network
In 2007, Ramaswamy and Travis May co-founded Campus Venture Network, a social networking website for university students interested in launching businesses.
2007: Graduated from Harvard University
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. At Harvard, he was known as a libertarian and was the president of the Harvard Political Union.
2008: Did not vote
In 2008, Ramaswamy did not vote in the presidential election.
2009: Campus Venture Network sold
In 2009, Campus Venture Network was sold to the nonprofit Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
2011: Awarded Soros Fellowship
In 2011, Ramaswamy was awarded a post-graduate fellowship to attend law school by The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.
2012: Did not vote
In 2012, Ramaswamy did not vote in the presidential election.
2013: Earned Juris Doctor
In 2013, Ramaswamy earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
2013: Earned law degree from Yale University
In 2013, Ramaswamy earned a law degree from Yale University.
December 2014: Axovant purchased Intepirdine patent
In December 2014, Axovant purchased the patent for intepirdine from GlaxoSmithKline for $5 million after the drug had failed four previous clinical trials.
2014: Founded Roivant Sciences
In 2014, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences after working as an investment partner at a hedge fund.
2014: Left QVT Financial
In 2014, Ramaswamy left QVT Financial, where he was a partner and co-managed the firm's biotech portfolio.
March 2015: Chairman of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals
In March 2015, Ramaswamy was chairman of OnCore Biopharma, a position he maintained at Tekmira Pharmaceuticals when the two companies merged.
2015: Axovant IPO and market value soars
In 2015, Ramaswamy raised $360 million for Axovant Sciences, a Roivant subsidiary, and engineered the company's IPO. The company's market value initially soared to almost $3 billion. Ramaswamy also took a payout of more than $37 million in capital gains in 2015. He claimed his company would be the "Berkshire Hathaway of drug development" and touted the drug as a "tremendous" opportunity that "could help millions" of patients.
2015: Marriage to Apoorva Tewari
In 2015, Vivek Ramaswamy married Apoorva Tewari, a laryngologist and surgeon, whom he met at Yale.
2016: Did not vote
In 2016, Ramaswamy did not vote in the presidential election.
2016: Donated to Dena Grayson's campaign
In 2016, Ramaswamy donated $2,700 to the campaign of Dena Grayson, a Florida Democrat running for Congress.
September 2017: Intepirdine fails clinical trial
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.
2017: Partnership with CITIC Private Equity and SoftBank investment
In 2017, Roivant partnered with CITIC Private Equity and Ramaswamy struck a deal with Masayoshi Son in which SoftBank invested $1.1 billion in Roivant.
2017: Position on Trump Tax Cuts
In 2017, Vivek Ramaswamy took no public position on the Trump tax cuts.
2018: Ramaswamy defends Axovant
In 2018, Ramaswamy said he had no regrets about how Axovant handled intepirdine; in subsequent years, he expressed annoyance at criticism of the company.
2018: Created Roivant Foundation
In 2018, an earlier iteration of RSV, the Roivant Foundation, was created.
2019: Roivant sold stakes in subsidiaries
In 2019, Roivant sold its stake in five subsidiaries to Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, resulting in $175 million in capital gains for Ramaswamy.
2020: Donated to Ohio Republican Party
From 2020, Ramaswamy donated $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party.
2020: Co-founded Chapter Medicare
In 2020, Ramaswamy co-founded Chapter Medicare, a Medicare navigation platform. He also served on the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team.
2020: Supported Donald Trump for President
In 2020, Ramaswamy supported Donald Trump for the 2020 presidential election, marking a shift towards political involvement.
2020: Supported Donald Trump
In 2020, Ramaswamy supported Donald Trump in the presidential election.
2020: Established Roivant Social Ventures
In 2020, Roivant Sciences, under Ramaswamy's leadership as CEO, established Roivant Social Ventures (RSV), a nonprofit social-impact arm.
2020: Vegetarian Stance
In 2020, Vivek Ramaswamy wrote, "I believe it is wrong to kill sentient animals for culinary pleasure," indicating his vegetarian stance.
2020: Claims about the 2020 Election
Vivek Ramaswamy asserted that "big tech" played a role in stealing the 2020 election, referring to the Hunter Biden laptop story and claiming that the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was the Democratic Party's platform.
January 6, 2021: Response to the January 6th Attack on the Capitol
In the days after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Vivek Ramaswamy condemned the attack but argued that social media bans on Trump violated the First Amendment.
January 2021: Ramaswamy stepped down as CEO of Roivant Sciences
In January 2021, Ramaswamy stepped down as CEO of Roivant Sciences and assumed the role of executive chairman.
August 2021: Publication of "Woke, Inc."
In August 2021, Vivek Ramaswamy published his book, "Woke Inc,", a New York Times bestseller, which described his view of the "modern woke-industrial complex."
November 2021: Registered to vote as unaffiliated
In November 2021, Ramaswamy registered to vote in Franklin County, Ohio, as "unaffiliated", but described himself as a Republican.
2021: Real Estate Ownership
As of 2021, Vivek Ramaswamy owned a house in Butler County, Ohio.
2021: Authored "Woke, Inc."
In 2021, Ramaswamy wrote his first book, "Woke, Inc." and began appearing on cable networks to argue against leftist "woke" policies. He also became an active donor to the Republican Party.
2021: Stepped down as CEO of Roivant Sciences
In 2021, Vivek Ramaswamy stepped down as CEO of Roivant Sciences.
September 2022: Published "Nation of Victims"
In September 2022, Ramaswamy published a 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.
October 2022: Meetings with South Carolina Lawmakers
In October 2022, Ramaswamy held closed-door meetings with South Carolina lawmakers to pitch Strive to manage South Carolina pension funds.
2022: Considered running for U.S. Senate in Ohio
In 2022, Ramaswamy briefly considered running in the U.S. Senate election in Ohio.
2022: Co-founded Strive Asset Management
In 2022, Ramaswamy co-founded Strive Asset Management, an investment firm.
2022: Launched DRLL fund
In 2022, Strive's flagship fund, the exchange-traded fund DRLL, launched as an "anti-woke" energy sector index fund.
2022: Urged Chevron to Increase Oil Production
In 2022, Vivek Ramaswamy urged Chevron to increase oil production and criticized its support for a carbon tax.
February 2023: Resigned as executive chairman of Strive
In February 2023, Ramaswamy resigned as Strive's executive chairman to focus on his presidential campaign.
February 2023: Ramaswamy resigned as chair of Roivant
In February 2023, Ramaswamy stepped down as chair of Roivant to focus on his presidential campaign.
February 21, 2023: Ramaswamy Announces Presidential Candidacy
On February 21, 2023, Vivek Ramaswamy announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2024. He made the announcement on Tucker Carlson Tonight and released 20 years of his individual income tax returns, challenging his rivals to do the same.
May 2023: Wikipedia Biography Edits Controversy
In May 2023, Ramaswamy's campaign admitted to paying an editor to alter his Wikipedia biography before announcing his candidacy. These edits, which included removing references to his postgraduate fellowship and involvement with the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team, sparked controversy. The campaign denied any political motivation behind these edits, claiming they were simply revisions of factual distortions.
June 2023: Criticism of Meetings with South Carolina Lawmakers
In June 2023, after The Post and Courier reported on the October 2022 meetings, the sessions were criticized as a form of unregistered lobbying; Ramaswamy's campaign manager denied any impropriety.
July 2023: Campaign Fundraising Update
In July 2023, it was reported that Vivek Ramaswamy had loaned his campaign more than $15 million from February to July 2023, with approximately $9 million in cash on hand at the end of the second quarter. Although his fundraising lagged behind Trump and DeSantis, it exceeded most other Republican primary candidates.
November 2023: Condemnation of Azerbaijan's Military Operation
In November 2023, Vivek 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.
2023: Donated to Ohio Republican Party
From 2020 to 2023, Ramaswamy donated $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party.
2023: Axovant dissolved
In 2023, Axovant dissolved after attempting to reinvent itself as a gene therapy company.
2023: Described as Anti-Woke Candidate
In 2023, The New York Times described Vivek Ramaswamy as an anti-woke candidate.
2023: Net Worth and Real Estate
In 2023, Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign mentioned his net worth to be around $1 billion. He reported owning a house in Columbus, Ohio, in Franklin County. A Politico profile mentioned him living in a $2 million estate in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.
2023: Support for Trump Amidst Indictment
In 2023, after Donald Trump was indicted on federal criminal charges, Vivek Ramaswamy immediately rallied behind him, promising to pardon Trump if elected president.
2023: Net Worth Before Law School
In a 2023 interview, Ramaswamy stated that he had a net worth of around $15 million before graduating from law school and that he was a member of the campus Jewish intellectual discussion society Shabtai while a law student.
2023: Ramaswamy called Shkreli brilliant and a pathological liar.
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.
May 2024: Acquired Stake in BuzzFeed
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 "high-profile directors".
2024: Involvement in the Proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
A week after the 2024 election, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Ramaswamy and Elon Musk had been tasked to lead the newly proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
2024: Presidential bid and endorsement of Donald Trump
In 2024, Vivek Ramaswamy entered national politics as the youngest presidential candidate in the Republican primaries. He later withdrew his bid and endorsed Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential election.
2024: Campaign Ends, Trump Endorsement
In January 2024, after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses, Vivek Ramaswamy ended his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump. For the remainder of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Ramaswamy served the Trump campaign as a political surrogate.
2024: Vocal Support for Trump
Throughout the 2024 Republican nomination race, Vivek Ramaswamy vocally supported Donald Trump, despite running against him.
February 15, 2025: Ramaswamy Files for Ohio Gubernatorial Election
On February 15, 2025, Vivek Ramaswamy filed to enter the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial election and officially announced his run on February 24.
April 2025: Forbes estimated net worth
In April 2025, Forbes estimated Ramaswamy's net worth to be $1.1 billion, derived from his biotech and financial businesses.
May 9, 2025: Official Endorsement from the Ohio Republican Party
On May 9, 2025, Vivek Ramaswamy received the official endorsement of the Ohio Republican Party's State Central Committee, marking the earliest the state Republican Party has ever endorsed a non-incumbent gubernatorial candidate.
2025: Launched campaign for Ohio governor
In 2025, Vivek Ramaswamy launched his campaign for the 2026 Ohio governor's election and was endorsed by President Trump.
2026: Focus on Ohio Gubernatorial Campaign
In 2024, Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to focus on a potential 2026 Ohio gubernatorial campaign. The departure was reportedly due to friction between Ramaswamy and other DOGE leadership and staff.
2026: Endorsed by Ohio Republican Party
In 2026, Vivek Ramaswamy received an endorsement from the Ohio Republican Party for his gubernatorial candidacy.
2028: Semiconductor Independence
Vivek Ramaswamy pledged to achieve "semiconductor independence" by 2028.
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