Who Is GOP Presidential Hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy? 10 Things To Know About Him

Elon Musk on Thursday praised Indian-American lawmaker Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to contest against Donald Trump in Republican primaries for presidential polls, calling him a "very promising candidate".

"He is a very promising candidate," Elon Musk said on X (formerly Twitter) while referring to Ramaswamy's interview with popular journalist Tucker Carlson.

Who Is Vivek Ramaswamy? 10 Things To Know About Him

37-year-old Ramaswamy parents migrated to the United States from Kerala and worked at a General Electric plant in Ohio.

A second-generation Indian American, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and led the largest biotech IPOs of 2015 and 2016, eventually culminating in successful clinical trials in multiple disease areas that led to FDA-approved products, according to his bio.

Vivek is married to Apoorva, a throat surgeon and Assistant Professor at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. They live in Columbus, Ohio where they are raising their two sons.

Vivek, a prominent figure in the American business landscape, has achieved recognition as a New York Times bestselling author. His first book 'Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam' delves into the intricate workings of social justice within corporate realms. Following this success, he went on to pen his second thought-provoking work 'Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence.'

Additionally, Vivek's third book 'Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn't Vote For' delves into the complex interplay between financial institutions and democratic processes.

Left leaning media has called him one of the "intellectual godfathers of the anti-woke movement" (Politico) and the "right's leading anti-ESG crusader" (Axios and Bloomberg). He was dubbed "The C.E.O. of Anti-Woke," by The New Yorker. These movements are now popularized in mainstream conservative thought.

In 2022, he founded Strive, an Ohio-based asset management firm that directly competes with asset managers like BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard and others, who use the money of everyday citizens to advance environmental and social agendas that many citizens and capital owners disagree with.

He has founded other successful healthcare and technology companies, and in 2022, he launched Strive Asset Management, a new firm focused on restoring the voices of everyday citizens in the American economy by leading companies to focus on excellence over politics.

He supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Ramaswamy has actively engaged in political contributions spanning across party lines, supporting both Democrats and Republicans. Over the period from 2020 to 2023, he contributed a total of $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party. Furthermore, in 2016, he showed his support for Dena Grayson, a Florida Democrat contending for a congressional seat, by making a donation of $2,700 to her campaign.