Vivek Ramaswamy

Some Lesser Known Facts About Vivek Ramaswamy

• Vivek Ramaswamy is an American entrepreneur and author, who is a candidate for the 2024 Republican Party presidential elections. In 2016, he was listed as the 24th richest entrepreneur on the America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 list by Forbes.

• His parents are Indian Hindu immigrants from Palakkad district in Kerala, India. The family had an ancestral home in a traditional agraharam in the town of Vadakkencherry, Kerala, which he used to visit during his school summer vacations. ^[8]The Times of India ^[9]Kerala Kaumudi

  

• According to his relatives, he is fluent in Tamil and can understand Malayalam, although he is not able to speak Malayalam. ^[10]Deccan Herald

• When he was studying at St. Xavier High School, he was the class valedictorian and was also nationally ranked as a junior tennis player.

• At Harvard College, he was a member of the prestigious academic honour society known as ‘Phi Beta Kappa.’

• While studying at Harvard, he gained a reputation for his strong libertarian beliefs. Afterwards, he took on the role of president at the Harvard Political Union. During his time at Harvard, he went by the stage name ‘Da Vek’ and performed Eminem song covers and created rap music with themes related to libertarian ideas. ^[11]Politico

• He did an internship at Amaranth Advisors, a hedge fund, and Goldman Sachs, an investment bank.

• He was awarded a Bowdoin Prize for his senior thesis, which explored the ethical dilemmas surrounding the development of human-animal chimeras.

• In 2007, Vivek and Travis May co-founded Campus Venture Network, which developed a private social networking website for university students interested in launching businesses. In 2009, they sold the company to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

• Between 2007 and 2014, he held a position at QVT Financial, a hedge fund. He was a partner and co-manager of QVT’s biotech portfolio. During his time at QVT, the firm invested in biotech companies like Palatin Technologies, Concert Pharmaceuticals, Pharmasset, and Martin Shkreli’s Retrophin.

• In 2011, he was granted a post-graduate fellowship by the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.

• Vivek met his wife, Apoorva Tewari, when he was studying law and she was studying medicine at Yale University. ^[12]The Sun

• In 2014, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a biotech company. The name ‘Roivant’ is a combination of ‘ROI’ (return on investment). The company was registered in Bermuda, known for its tax benefits, and received about $100 million in initial funding from QVT and other investors. Roivant’s strategy involved purchasing patents for drugs from major pharmaceutical companies that were not fully developed and then working to make these drugs accessible to the public.

• He was listed on Finance’s 30 Under 30 list in 2014.

• In 2014, he founded another pharmaceutical company titled Axovant Sciences. In December 2014, Axovant acquired the patent for intepirdine from GlaxoSmithKline. However, this drug had previously proven unsuccessful in four clinical trials. ^[13]The New York Times In September 2017, the company announced that intepirdine had not achieved the desired results in its extensive clinical trial. ^[14]Stat News

• In 2015, Vivek managed to secure $360 million for a subsidiary of Roivant called Axovant Sciences. This funding was intended to support the promotion of a drug called intepirdine as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. ^[15]Forbes

• He was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine in 2015.

  

• Despite having only eight employees, including Ramaswamy’s family members, the company’s market value quickly surged to almost $3 billion. ^[16]The New York Times He then made a significant profit by selling a part of his shares in Roivant to Viking Global Investors. He declared more than $37 million in capital gains for the 2015 tax year.

• In 2020, he co-founded Chapter Medicare, a platform designed to assist with navigating Medicare. He was also involved in the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team.

• He has also served as the chairman of OnCore Biopharma and the board of Arbutus Biopharma, a Canadian company.

• In 2021, he released his debut book titled ‘Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,’ which became a New York Times bestseller.

• In January 2021, Vivek stepped down from his role as CEO of Roivant Sciences and took on the position of executive chairman. However, in February 2023, he resigned as the chairman of Roivant to focus on his presidential campaign.

• In 2022, he co-founded Strive Asset Management, a company located in Columbus, Ohio, that specializes in managing assets.

• In September 2022, he released another book titled ‘Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence,’ where he highlighted the importance of pursuing excellence without apology and rejecting a culture of victimhood as the essence of true American identity. ^[17]Politico

  

• In October 2022, he held closed-door meetings with South Carolina lawmakers, organized by state treasurer Curtis Loftis, to discuss the possibility of Strive managing the state’s pension funds. However, in June 2023, these meetings were criticized after being reported on by The Post and Courier, raising concerns about potential unregistered lobbying. Ramaswamy’s campaign manager denied any inappropriate actions. ^[18]The Post and Courier

• Before his presidential campaign, Vivek initially expressed interest in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Ohio. However, on 21 February 2023, he officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 U.S. presidential election as a Republican nominee on the talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight.

• Axovant attempted to shift its focus towards becoming a gene therapy company, but ultimately, it dissolved in 2023. ^[19]The New York Times

• In May 2023, it was revealed that Ramaswamy’s campaign had paid an editor to modify his Wikipedia biography before he declared his presidential candidacy. While acknowledging this, the campaign denied that the changes were politically motivated. ^[20]HuffPost According to sources, there were indications that Ramaswamy might have paid an editor to adjust his Wikipedia page to appeal more to political conservatives. These edits involved removing references to his postgraduate fellowship with the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and his involvement with the Ohio COVID-19 Response Team; ^[21]Forbes however, Ramaswamy’s campaign refuted the idea that they were attempting to ‘scrub’ his Wikipedia page and argued that the changes were intended to correct ‘factual distortions.’ ^[22]HuffPost

• In 2023, he launched his third book titled ‘Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street Is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn’t Vote For.’

  

• In an interview, he said that he is in favour of raising the voting age to 25, which would mean changing or repealing the 26th Amendment of the Constitution. This suggestion could result in about 9% of the American population losing their voting rights. He has also suggested that individuals aged 18 to 24 could maintain their voting privileges if they are part of the military, working as first responders, or passing a civics test. ^[23]Politico ^[24]AP News

• Although he is running against Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, Ramaswamy is an open and strong supporter of the former president. ^[25]The New York Times

• On November 8, 2023, Ramaswamy got engaged in a heated exchange with his opponent Nikki Haley during a presidential debate held in Miami. The verbal spat unfolded when Ramaswamy raised concerns about Haley’s daughter using TikTok, suggesting the potential risk of China exploiting the app for spying purposes. In response, Haley called Ramaswamy “scum.” Ramaswamy, moreover, later criticized Haley’s foreign policy views and referred to her as “Dick Cheney in three-inch heels.” ^[26]The Guardian

• He supports ending U.S. military aid to Ukraine, excluding Ukraine from NATO, and allowing Russia to occupy specific regions of Ukraine as part of an agreement where Russia would terminate its alliance with China. ^[27]Mediaite ^[28]The Hill

• He called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “bully” ^[29]The Hill and, in a 2023 interview, made unsupported claims about the mistreatment of Jews and other minorities in Ukraine during Zelensky’s leadership, even though Zelensky himself is Jewish. ^[30]Jewish Insider

• In his campaign, he said that he doesn’t deny the existence of climate change but believes it’s not entirely negative. He suggested that people should take pride in a high-carbon lifestyle. ^[31]The Washington Post While he recognizes the role of fossil fuels in climate change, he supported increased extraction and use of these fuels like drilling, fracking, and burning coal, arguing that this approach would benefit the economy and help fund climate change mitigation efforts. ^[32]The New York Times

• In 2023, he disclosed that back in 2013, his net worth was about $15 million, stemming from his involvement in finance, pharmaceuticals, and biotech even before completing his JD at Yale University. ^[33]The New York Times

• In a 2023 interview, Vivek’s campaign advisor said that his net worth was estimated to be more than $1 billion. ^[34]The New York Times

• During his school days, Vivek used to receive private piano lessons and has notable skills as a pianist.

• Vivek Ramaswamy sang Eminem’s song ‘Lose Yourself ‘ during one of his campaigns at the Iowa State Fair in the United States on 12 August 2023; however, on 23 August 2023, he received a letter from the performing rights organization BMI, asking him to cease performing Eminem’s tracks. While talking about the issue in an interview, Ramaswamy confirmed that he would no longer use Eminem’s songs. He further added that he would also not let go of an opportunity to garner some more media attention. ^[35]India Today Ramaswamy, in a post regarding the matter, wrote,
  

  Will The REAL Slim Shady Please Stand Up? He didn’t just say what I think he did, did he?”

• Ramaswamy was believed to be planning to hire a nanny for his children. A job listing on a staffing website mentioned a salary of $100,000 per year for the position. ^[36]Mint

• Vivek Ramaswamy made the announcement to withdraw from the 2024 presidential elections on January 15, 2024, following unsatisfactory results in the Iowa caucuses. Speaking at the Horizon Event Center in Clive, Iowa, USA, Vivek said,
  

  Tonight, I have to face the truth. It was hard for me to accept, but we have looked at the facts. And the fact is, we did not get the result we hoped for tonight. I called Donald Trump earlier tonight to congratulate him on his win. And from now on, he will have my full backing for the presidency. Tomorrow, I will join Donald Trump at a rally in New Hampshire to share our vision for the country’s future.”