Vivek Ramaswamy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vivek Ramaswamy
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Ramaswamy in 2025
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| Born |
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy
August 9, 1985 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
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| Education | Harvard University (BA) Yale University (JD) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) |
Apoorva Tewari
(m. 2015) |
| Children | 2 |
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy (born August 9, 1985) is an American businessman and politician. He started a company called Roivant Sciences in 2014, which focused on making new medicines. He was the head of this company until 2021.
Ramaswamy became well-known in politics when he ran for president in 2023. He was the youngest person to seek the Republican Party's nomination for president. He later stopped his campaign and supported Donald Trump for the 2024 election. In 2025, he began his campaign to become the governor of Ohio and received support from President Trump and the Ohio Republican Party.
Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents came to the U.S. from India. He studied biology at Harvard University and later earned a law degree from Yale University. Before starting Roivant Sciences, he worked in finance. In 2022, he also helped start another investment company called Strive Asset Management.
He became more involved in politics around 2020, supporting Donald Trump. In 2021, Ramaswamy wrote a book called Woke Inc. and often spoke on TV about his views against certain social policies. He also became a supporter of the Republican Party. Ramaswamy sees himself as a conservative and an American nationalist. He has spoken against business practices that focus on social or environmental goals, saying they can hurt companies. He also opposes affirmative action, which he believes goes against the idea of rewarding people based on their skills. In April 2025, his wealth was estimated to be around $1.1 billion, mostly from his work in biotech and finance.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy was born on August 9, 1985, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents were immigrants from India and followed the Hindu faith. His father, V. Ganapathy Ramaswamy, was an engineer for General Electric. His mother, Geetha Ramaswamy, was a doctor who specialized in caring for older people. His parents came from a place called Palakkad in Kerala, India.
Ramaswamy grew up in Ohio. He often went to the local Hindu temple with his family. His piano teacher, who was a conservative Christian, also influenced his ideas about society. He spent many summer holidays visiting India with his parents. When he was in high school, Ramaswamy was a very good tennis player, ranked nationally.
School and College Years
Ramaswamy went to public schools until eighth grade. Then, he attended St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, a Catholic school. He graduated in 2003 as the top student in his class.
In 2007, Ramaswamy graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biology. He was a top student and a member of a special academic honor society called Phi Beta Kappa. At Harvard, he was known for being confident and liking to debate. He was even the president of the Harvard Political Union, a group for political discussions. He once said he enjoyed debating different ideas. During college, he performed rap music under the name "Da Vek" and worked as an intern at financial companies. He wrote his final paper on the ethical questions about creating human-animal mixtures, which won him an award.
In 2011, Ramaswamy received a special scholarship to attend law school. He later said that by the time he went to Yale, he was already quite wealthy from his work in finance and medicine-related businesses. He earned his law degree from Yale University in 2013. At Yale, he became friends with JD Vance, who also grew up in Ohio and later became the U.S. Vice President.
Business Career
Starting Out
In 2007, Ramaswamy and Travis May started a company called Campus Venture Network. This company created a private website for college students who wanted to start their own businesses. The company was sold in 2009.
From 2007 to 2014, Ramaswamy worked at a financial firm called QVT Financial. He was a partner and helped manage the firm's investments in biotechnology companies.
Roivant Sciences and Its Companies
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In 2014, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a biotechnology company. The name "Roi" stands for "return on investment," meaning how much profit you get from an investment. The company was set up in Bermuda, a place known for lower taxes. It received nearly $100 million from investors. Roivant's plan was to buy patents for drugs that other big pharmaceutical companies had not fully developed, and then try to bring those drugs to the market. The company created many smaller companies, each focusing on different areas, like skin diseases (Dermavant) or bladder problems (Urovant).
In 2015, Ramaswamy raised $360 million for a Roivant company called Axovant Sciences. The goal was to develop a drug for Alzheimer's disease. Axovant bought the patent for this drug for $5 million, which was a small amount in the industry. Ramaswamy appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine in 2015. He said his company would be very successful in the pharmaceutical industry. Before new tests began, he made Axovant a public company, which means its shares could be bought and sold on the stock market. This raised $315 million, and the company's value quickly grew to almost $3 billion, even though it only had eight employees. Ramaswamy made a large profit by selling some of his shares.
In September 2017, the company announced that the drug had failed in its large clinical trial. The company's value dropped sharply, losing 75% in one day. Ramaswamy was protected from most of these losses because he held his shares through Roivant. The company stopped working on that drug. Axovant later tried to become a gene therapy company but closed down in 2023.
In 2017, Roivant partnered with a Chinese investment firm to create Sinovant. Also in 2017, a company called SoftBank invested $1.1 billion in Roivant. In 2019, Roivant sold its shares in five of its smaller companies, and Ramaswamy made $175 million from this sale.
Ramaswamy stepped down as the CEO of Roivant Sciences in January 2021 but remained as its chairman. In 2021, Roivant became listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. In February 2023, Ramaswamy left his role as chairman to focus on his presidential campaign. He remains a significant shareholder in Roivant.
Strive Asset Management
In early 2022, Ramaswamy and his high school friend Anson Frericks started Strive Asset Management. This company helps manage investments. It raised about $20 million from investors, including Peter Thiel and JD Vance.
Strive calls itself "anti-woke" and its funds "anti-ESG." Ramaswamy has said that large investment managers, like BlackRock, mix business with social and environmental politics, which he believes is bad for investors. He argues that companies should focus only on making money for their shareholders. He wrote a second book, Nation of Victims, in September 2022.
Strive's main fund, DRLL, started in 2022 as an "anti-woke" energy fund. Ramaswamy said Strive would encourage energy companies to produce more oil and natural gas without worrying about political or environmental goals. Ramaswamy was the chairman of Strive before he resigned in February 2023 to focus on his presidential campaign.
Other Business Activities
In 2020, Ramaswamy also helped start Chapter Medicare, a platform that helps people understand Medicare options. He also served on Ohio's team for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2024, Ramaswamy bought a large share in BuzzFeed, a media company. He later suggested that BuzzFeed should hire conservative commentators and new directors. People who study media believe his ideas could change BuzzFeed's content.
Political Career
Early Political Involvement
Ramaswamy has said he voted for the Libertarian Party candidate in 2004 but did not vote in the presidential elections in 2008, 2012, or 2016. He described himself as not very interested in politics during that time. He supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election. In November 2021, he registered to vote as "unaffiliated" but said he was a Republican.
Ramaswamy has given money to both Democratic and Republican politicians. From 2020 to 2023, he donated $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party. He considered running for the U.S. Senate in Ohio in 2022.
2024 Presidential Campaign
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On February 21, 2023, Ramaswamy announced he was running for the Republican nomination for president. He shared his tax returns and asked other candidates to do the same. He used a lot of his own money to fund his campaign. His fundraising was less than Donald Trump's and Ron DeSantis's, but more than most other Republican candidates.
During his campaign, Ramaswamy tried to connect with Christian conservative voters, who are an important part of the Republican Party. He often said that the U.S. was founded on Christian values and that he shared those values. He called himself an "unapologetic American nationalist" and often criticized other candidates but avoided directly criticizing Trump.
In May 2023, Ramaswamy's campaign said he had paid someone to change his Wikipedia page before he announced his candidacy. They said the changes were to fix "factual distortions."
In January 2024, after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses, Ramaswamy ended his campaign. He then endorsed Donald Trump. For the rest of the 2024 election, Ramaswamy helped Trump's campaign by speaking at events.
Department of Government Efficiency
A week after the 2024 election, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Ramaswamy and businessman Elon Musk would lead a new group called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, Ramaswamy did not work with the DOGE team during the Trump administration. On Inauguration Day, he left DOGE to focus on a possible campaign for governor of Ohio in 2026.
2026 Ohio Governor's Election
On February 15, 2025, Ramaswamy officially filed to run in the 2026 Ohio gubernatorial election. He announced his campaign on February 24. On the same day, President Donald Trump gave Ramaswamy his full support, saying he would be a "GREAT Governor of Ohio."
Political experts believe President Trump's early support will greatly help Ramaswamy's campaign. Elon Musk, a senior adviser to President Trump, also supported Ramaswamy. On May 9, 2025, Ramaswamy received the official support of the Ohio Republican Party. This was the earliest the state Republican Party had ever supported a candidate for governor who was not already in office.
Political Ideas
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Ramaswamy often calls himself an American nationalist. He believes the United States is facing a crisis of identity, caused by what he calls "new secular religions" like "COVID-ism, climate-ism, and gender ideology." Even though they were running against each other for the 2024 Republican nomination, Ramaswamy strongly supported Trump. When Trump faced legal challenges in 2023, Ramaswamy immediately stood by him. He promised to pardon Trump if he became president. He also promised to pardon others like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden.
Anti-Woke Views
In 2023, The New York Times described Ramaswamy as an "anti-woke" candidate. His 2021 book, Woke Inc., talked about his views on what he calls the "modern woke-industrial complex." Ramaswamy became known for opposing corporate programs that focus on political, social, and environmental causes in businesses. He argues that "faith, patriotism, and hard work" are being replaced by "new secular religions."
Views on Equality and Education
He has said that critical race theory teaches public school children wrong ideas. Ramaswamy opposes affirmative action, which are policies designed to help groups that have been discriminated against. He believes it goes against the idea of rewarding people based on their skills.
LGBTQ and Gender Identity
Ramaswamy has called the LGBTQ movement a "cult." He has said that same-sex marriage is a "settled precedent" (meaning it's a decided legal matter). However, he supports strong limits on the rights of transgender Americans and has used language that is critical of transgender people.
Government Power
Ramaswamy has said that if elected president, he would use his executive power in a very strong way. He pledged to fire 75% of federal employees and remove protections that make it hard to fire government workers. He also said he would get rid of at least five federal agencies, including the Education Department and the FBI. He believes the president has the power to do this on their own, even though agencies are usually created by laws passed by Congress. He also proposed limiting all government employees to eight-year terms.
Voting Rules
Ramaswamy has suggested raising the voting age from 18 to 25. This would require changing the 26th Amendment to the Constitution. He believes citizens between 18 and 24 should only be allowed to vote if they serve in the military, work as first responders, or pass a civics test. He also supports ending birthright citizenship, which means being a citizen just because you were born in the U.S. He supports making Election Day a federal holiday but wants to remove Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
Foreign Affairs
Ramaswamy has said he would not use U.S. military force against Iran. In November 2023, he criticized Azerbaijan's military actions against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and said the U.S. should stop all military aid to Azerbaijan.
Russia and Ukraine
Ramaswamy has said he would make "major concessions" to Russia to end the Russo-Ukrainian War. This would include freezing the current battle lines and keeping Ukraine out of NATO. He also suggested allowing Russia to keep occupied regions of Ukraine in exchange for Russia ending its alliance with China.
China and Taiwan
He supports Taiwanese independence. He has suggested giving "a gun to every Taiwanese household" to discourage an invasion by China. However, he also said the U.S. should not militarily defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack once the U.S. becomes independent in making computer chips, which he aims to achieve by 2028.
Israel and Palestine
Ramaswamy supports Israel and calls it a "Divine nation." He believes Israel should be free to oppose a two-state solution for peace with Palestine. After the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Ramaswamy said Israel should be able to decide how it defends itself. He also suggested that U.S. aid to Israel should depend on Israel's plans for defeating Hamas.
Climate and Energy
Ramaswamy has said that he is not a climate denier. However, in a Republican debate, he said that "the climate change agenda is a hoax." He has also falsely claimed that "more people are dying from climate policies than actual climate change."
At other times, he has agreed that burning fossil fuels causes climate change, but said that global climate change is "not entirely bad." He has also said that "people should be proud to live a high-carbon lifestyle" and that the U.S. should "drill, frack, burn coal."
He has criticized what he calls the "climate cult." He said that as president, he would "abandon the anticarbon framework" and stop any rules to measure carbon dioxide. He opposes subsidies for electric vehicles. Critics have pointed out that his arguments about the benefits of climate change and fossil fuels ignore larger negative effects.
Promoting Conspiracy Theories
In debates and campaign events, Ramaswamy has often repeated and promoted various right-wing conspiracy theories and false claims. After the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, he first condemned it. Later, while running for president, Ramaswamy repeatedly claimed that the January 6 attack "was an inside job," a claim that has no evidence and has been disproven by many investigations.
He has also questioned whether "federal agents were on the planes" that hit the Twin Towers during the September 11 attacks. He has claimed that "big tech" helped steal the 2020 election by suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story. He also claimed that the "Great Replacement" theory was "the Democratic Party's platform."
When asked about some of his past statements, Ramaswamy often denied making them or claimed he was misquoted, even when recordings or writings showed otherwise.
Personal Life
Ramaswamy's wife, Apoorva Tewari Ramaswamy, is a doctor who specializes in throat problems. They met at Yale, where he was studying law and she was studying medicine. They married in 2015 and have two sons. Ramaswamy has a younger brother, Shankar, who worked for him at Axovant.
Ramaswamy is a monotheistic Hindu. His relatives say he speaks Tamil fluently and understands Malayalam. He is a vegetarian and wrote in 2020 that he believes it is wrong to kill animals for food. His parents say he has tried to understand both Eastern and Western culture.
In 2023, Ramaswamy's campaign stated his net worth was around $1 billion. He used to live in Manhattan. As of 2023, he owns a house in Columbus, Ohio, in Franklin County. A 2023 article mentioned him living in a $2 million home in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.
Published Works
- Woke Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam (2021)
- Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence (2022)
See also
In Spanish: Vivek Ramaswamy para niños
