All about Vivek Ramaswamy, running for US president
What's the story
Indian-American biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has challenged Donald Trump in the Republican primaries for the US presidential race.
Ramaswamy, founder of Roivant Sciences—a biopharmaceutical company valued at over $6.3 billion—has now caught the attention of Elon Musk, who called him a "very promising candidate."
His campaign hinges on reducing dependence on China, "bringing back merit," and fighting the "woke."
He also plans to prohibit US companies from conducting business with China "unless the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reforms its behavior."
Background
Third Indian-American in Republican presidential race
Ramaswamy (38)—reportedly the youngest Republican presidential candidate ever—is the third Indian-American, along with Hirsh Vardhan Singh and Nikki Haley, set to contest against Trump in the Republican primaries in January.
His parents immigrated to the US from Kerala and worked at a General Electric plant in Ohio.
He founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and subsequently oversaw the largest biotech IPOs of 2015 and 2016. After successful clinical trials against several diseases, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved his products.
Details
How did he get popular
Ramaswamy, dubbed "The C.E.O. of Anti-Woke," gained recognition from his first book, Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam, which became a New York Times bestseller.
His second book was Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence, and the third was Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn't Vote For.
The controversial talking points made him the darling of the right-wing media.
What Next?
Anti-woke, anti-ESG crusader
A Harvard and Yale alum, Ramaswamy also founded Strive Asset Management, which directly competes with the world's biggest asset management firms like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street.
Ramaswamy has been dubbed one of the "intellectual godfathers of the anti-woke movement" by Politico and the "right's leading anti-ESG crusader" by Axios and Bloomberg.
ESG refers to environmental, social, and corporate governance—factors assessing the sustainability of companies while acknowledging climate change.
Ramaswamy has maintained that "human flourishing requires fossil fuels."
Insights
Political contributions spanning across party lines
Musk endorsed Ramaswamy after his interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, during which he termed China as the biggest threat to the US.
Announcing his campaign, he said he believed in the ideals that united Americans 250 years ago and vowed to revive them if elected.
His political contributions have spanned across party lines. Between 2020 to 2023, he contributed $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party and donated $2,700 to Florida Democrat Dena Grayson's congressional campaign in 2016.