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Vivek Ramaswamy

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Vivek Ramaswamy
Ramaswamy speaks at AmericaFest 2022
Born (1985-08-09) August 9, 1985 (age 39)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (AB)
Yale University (JD)
TitleCo-founder and Executive Chairman, Strive Asset Management
Political partyRepublican
SpouseApoorva Tewari
Children2
Websitevivekramaswamy.com

Vivek Ramaswamy (born August 9, 1985) is an American entrepreneur, author, and political activist. In 2022, he co-founded Strive Asset Management and currently serves as the Executive Chairman.[1] Prior to Strive, he founded the biopharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences. He is the author of Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam, which was published in August 2021,[2] and Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence, published September 13, 2022.[3]

Prior to founding Roivant in 2014, Ramaswamy co-founded a technology company and was a partner at an investment firm. Since 2020, he has been writing and speaking out against stakeholder capitalism, big tech censorship, and critical race theory.[4][5] Ramaswamy was dubbed "The C.E.O. of Anti-Woke, Inc." in a 2022 New Yorker profile[6], and has been described as "one of the intellectual godfathers of the anti-woke movement"[7] and "an articulate and winsome champion of [a] common-sense, populist approach."[8]

Ramaswamy is a candidate for president of the United States in the 2024 election.[9] He announced his decision to run on Tucker Carlson Tonight on February 21, 2023.

Early life and education

Ramaswamy was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio.[10][11] His parents immigrated from Vadakkencherry, Palakkad, Kerala, India. His father, V.G. Ramaswamy, graduated from a regional engineering college in Kerala, and later worked at the General Electric Plant in Evendale, Ohio. His mother, Geetha, was a geriatric psychiatrist in Cincinnati.[12] Ramaswamy has argued that American-style capitalism provides an antidote to the caste system in India by offering lower-caste citizens more economic opportunities.[13]

Ramaswamy graduated from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati in 2003.[14] In high school, he was class valedictorian, a nationally ranked junior tennis player, and an accomplished pianist.[citation needed]

In 2007, Ramaswamy graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with an A.B. in biology. He wrote his senior thesis on the ethical questions raised by creating human-animal chimeras. His thesis was awarded the Bowdoin Prize for Natural Sciences, and a precis was published in The New York Times and The Boston Globe in 2007.[15][16][17] In 2013, Ramaswamy received a J.D. from Yale Law School.[18]

Career

In 2007, Ramaswamy and Travis May co-founded Campus Venture Network, a technology company that provided software and networking resources to university entrepreneurs.[19] The company was acquired in 2009 by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.[20] Ramaswamy worked at QVT Financial from 2007 to 2014, where he was a partner and co-managed the firm's biotech portfolio, while simultaneously attending Yale Law School from 2010-2013.[21]

In 2014, Ramaswamy founded the pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences, a company that focuses on applying technology to drug development, for which he served as CEO until 2021. Ramaswamy appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine in 2015 for his work in drug development.[22] In 2020, Ramaswamy co-founded Chapter Medicare, the only consumer-first Medicare navigation platform.[23][24]

In early 2021, Ramaswamy stepped down as CEO of Roivant Sciences to publish Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam, which debuted at #2 on The New York Times bestseller list.[25]

Strive Asset Management

Ramaswamy is currently co-founder and executive chairman of Strive Asset Management, an Ohio-based asset management firm that was backed financially by Peter Thiel and J. D. Vance, among others.[6] Strive was established to offer an alternative to larger asset managers like BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard, which Ramaswamy has criticized for engaging in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) activities, and mixing business with politics to the detriment of shareholders.[26]

Strive's total assets under management surpassed $500 million on November 11, 2022, three months after the launch of its first fund.[27] In January 2023, Strive launched a proxy advisory service to compete with such mainstream firms as Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services.[28] Ramaswamy has been described by Axios and Bloomberg as "the leading anti-ESG crusader."[29][30]

Nonprofit work

Ramaswamy has served on the boards of directors of The Philanthropy Roundtable, an organization that aims to "foster excellence in philanthropy, protect philanthropic freedom and help donors advance liberty, opportunity and personal responsibility." He also has served on the board of directors for The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FreOpp), a nonprofit think tank focused on expanding economic opportunity to those who least have it.[31][32] In 2021, he became a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Xavier High School.[33]

Books

  • — (August 17, 2021). Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam. New York, NY: Center Street. ISBN 978-1-5460-9078-6. OCLC 1237631944.

Woke, Inc. debuted at #2 on the New York Times Best Sellers list on September 5, 2021.[34] A critique of "stakeholder capitalism," it argues that corporations' "woke" efforts to advance social causes "robs us of our money, our voice, and our identity."[35] Reviewers cited Ramaswamy's "spot-on analyses of corrosive corporate duplicity"[36] and "important points about the misguided nature of ESG investing [and] the folly of attempting to inject politics into business."[37] Russell Greene, writing on Real Clear Markets, applauded the book’s timeliness and said that "the problems Ramaswamy describes are real and likely to get worse," while also arguing that the author "[did] not permit his ample experience to inform his theory," leading him to present "a vision for business that overlooks how corporations, and corporate law, actually work."[38] Joe Berkowitz, on Fast Company, observes that Ramaswamy "often seems more concerned with so-called wokeness itself than with woke corporations."[39] The book significantly raised Ramaswamy's profile, leading to frequent talk show appearances, especially on Fox News.[40]

  • — (September 13, 2022). Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence. New York, NY: Center Street. ISBN 978-1-5460-0296-3. OCLC 1546002960.

In Nation of Victims, Ramaswamy critiques what he sees as the victimhood culture that is at the heart of America’s decline. Using examples from history, and incorporating themes from Western philosophy and Eastern theology, Ramaswamy suggests that the disappearance of excellence and exceptionalism, which he identifies as being at the heart of American identity, has left a deep moral and cultural vacuum in the nation. In his review for The Wall Street Journal, Tunku Varadarajan says that Nation of Victims makes a "passionate, persuasive case" for "closing off victimhood as a path to success." Comparing it to the work of Shelby Steele and John McWhorter’s Woke Racism, Varadarajan writes

Nation of Victims—always vigorous, in places uncompromising—offers a surprisingly wistful, even docile, solution to America’s problem of victimhood. We’re locked in a "grievance-fueled race to the bottom," where the very language we use—including basic words like "woman" and "equality"—have [sic] paralyzed dialogue across partisan lines. How do we emerge from this civic hell of mutual incomprehension? Mr. Ramaswamy’s answer is that we must "find a way to forgive each other instead of trying to win at the game of playing the victim." That sounds like a very fine idea.[41]

Political involvement

Main article: Vivek Ramaswamy 2024 presidential campaign

Ramaswamy has proposed repealing a law which makes Presidents spend all the money congress appropriates. He rejects the Diversity, equity, and inclusion and environmental, social, and governance movements.[42]

In 2022, Ramaswamy considered a candidacy in the 2022 United States Senate election in Ohio.[43] In 2023, it was reported that Ramaswamy might run for President of the United States in the 2024 election. According to a profile in Politico, Ramaswamy is inspired by Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, and wants to run "with an entrepreneurial spirit, unorthodox ideas, and few expectations" in the hopes of building "a major following that will carry him to the presidency.[7]

Ramaswamy announced that he was running for president in 2024 on the Fox News show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, on February 21, 2023.[9] Ramaswamy is a self-described conservative.[44]

Personal life

Ramaswamy is married to Apoorva Tewari Ramaswamy, an Assistant Professor and surgeon at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.[45][46]

Articles

References

  1. ^ O'Donnell, Kathie (May 12, 2022). "Manager backed by Thiel, Ackman to launch ETFs emphasizing excellence over politics". Pensions & Investments. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  2. ^ Berkowitz, Joe (August 25, 2021). "This former tech CEO takes down woke capitalism but misses the point on wokeness". Fast Company. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  3. ^ "Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence". Center Street. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  4. ^ Ramaswamy, Vivek (August 5, 2020). "Antitrust Can't Bust a Monopoly of Ideas". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  5. ^ Creitz, Charles (July 13, 2021). "Ramaswamy: 'Secular religion' of critical race theory now taught in schools violates Civil Rights Act of 64". Fox News. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Kolhatkar, Sheelah (December 12, 2022). "The C.E.O. of Anti-Woke, Inc". The New Yorker. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Lippman, Daniel (February 13, 2023). "The 'CEO of Anti-Woke Inc.' Has His Eye on the Presidency". POLITICO. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  8. ^ Smith, Curt (February 10, 2023). "Vivek Ramaswamy is a rising conservative star". Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "A Wealthy 'Anti-Woke' Activist Joins the 2024 Presidential Field". New York Times. February 22, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  10. ^ "A Look At the Race for Portmans Senate Seat". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  11. ^ "CNS Summit - Speaker Details". cnssummit.org. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  12. ^ "Indian-origin biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy raises $1 billion". The Times of India.
  13. ^ Kolhatkar, Sheelah (December 12, 2022). "The C.E.O. of Anti-Woke, Inc". The New Yorker.
  14. ^ Schulte, Becky (July 25, 2015). "July 2015". St. Xavier High School E-news (Mailing list). St. Xavier High School. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  15. ^ "Opinion | The chimera question". The New York Times. July 16, 2007. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  16. ^ "Meet the Fellows | Vivek Ramaswamy". www.pdsoros.org. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  17. ^ Yumpu.com. "Faculty of Arts and Sciences 2006-2007 Student Prize ... - iSites". yumpu.com. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  18. ^ Vardi, Nathan. "The 30-Year-Old CEO Conjuring Drug Companies From Thin Air". Forbes.
  19. ^ Lynch, Brendan (March 20, 2008). "Harvard Student Alum Launch Social Biz Site". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  20. ^ "Campus Venture Nework Overview". PitchBook. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  21. ^ Vardi, Nathan. "The 29 Year Old Behind The Giant Biotech IPO That Rose By 90% Speaks". Forbes.
  22. ^ "Forbes September 28, 2015 Vivek Ramaswamy Boy in the Bubble (Magazine: Finance, Business)". IndigoMistBooks. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  23. ^ "Chapter Announces $17 Million Series A Round, led by Narya Capital and Peter Thiel with participation from existing investors". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  24. ^ "Chapter - Medicare Made Simple". askchapter.org. Memoir, Inc. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  25. ^ "Roivant Sciences founder to step down as CEO". Reuters. January 25, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  26. ^ "The asset manager fighting ESG orthodoxy". Politico. February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  27. ^ "The US's Strive Asset Management raises half a billion in AUM in three months". Reuters. November 16, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  28. ^ "The asset manager fighting ESG orthodoxy". Politico. February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  29. ^ Ramaswamy has been described by Axios and Bloomberg as "the leading anti-ESG crusader."Holzman, Jael; Freedman, Andrew (February 3, 2023). "The right's anti-ESG crusader". Axios. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  30. ^ Brush, Silla, Kishan, Saijel (September 1, 2022). "The Anti-ESG Crusader Who Wants to Pick a Fight With BlackRock". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 10, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ "Our Leadership | The Philanthropy Roundtable". Philanthropy Roundtable. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  32. ^ FREOPP (September 21, 2021). "FREOPP Leadership: Vivek Ramaswamy". Medium. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  33. ^ "Board of Trustees - St. Xavier High School". www.stxavier.org. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  34. ^ "Hardcover Nonfiction". New York Times. September 5, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  35. ^ "Woke, Inc". centerstreet.com. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  36. ^ "This former tech CEO takes down woke capitalism but misses the point on wokeness". fastcompany.com. August 25, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  37. ^ "Review of Vivek Ramaswamy's Woke, Inc". cei.org. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  38. ^ Greene, Russell (September 21, 2021). "Vivek Ramaswamy's Disappointing 'Woke, Inc.'". RealClearMarkets. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  39. ^ Berkowitz, Joe (August 25, 2021). "This former tech CEO takes down woke capitalism but misses the point on wokeness". fastcompany.com. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  40. ^ Sewell, Dan (January 17, 2023). "Anti-woke crusader mulls political future". cincinnati.com. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  41. ^ Varadarajan, Tunku (September 23, 2022). "'Nation of Victims' Review: The Blame Game". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  42. ^ IBJ, Curt Smith / Special to. "Curt Smith: Vivek Ramaswamy is a rising conservative star". Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  43. ^ Wetterich, Chris (January 26, 2021). "COMMENTARY: A look at the race for Portman's Senate seat and a new name emerges". Cincinnati Business Courier. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  44. ^ Varadarajan, Tunku (June 25, 2021). "Can Vivek Ramaswamy Put Wokeism Out of Business?". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  45. ^ "Apoorva Ramaswamy".
  46. ^ "Apoorva T Ramaswamy, MD - Ohio State Cancer Center". cancer.osu.edu. Ohio State University. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
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