Donald Trump is back in the saddle and has started building his cabinet ahead of a second term in the White House. Apart from appointing loyalist Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defence and hardliner Mike Huckabee as Ambassador to Israel, the US President-Elect has also announced a new Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.). It will be led by none other than tech mogul Elon Musk.

But he’s not alone. Mr Trump announced that biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy, who ended his Presidential bid in January 2024, will work closely with Mr Musk on this initiative.

Who is Vivek Ramaswamy?

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 9, 1985, Vivek Ramaswamy has made a name as a biotech entrepreneur and a political thinker, who isn’t shy of airing anti-woke and anti-establishment views. His journey from a modest upbringing in Ohio to a prominent role in conservative circles highlights his drive to shake up traditional structures in both business and government.

Early life and academics

Vivek Ramaswamy’s parents emigrated from Kerala to the United States in the 1970s. His father was an engineer and patent lawyer for General Electric, while his mother was a geriatric psychiatrist. Mr Ramaswamy was an academically and athletically gifted student, who excelled in tennis and graduated as valedictorian from a Jesuit High School in Cincinnati. He went on to study biology at Harvard University and graduated in 2007. Later, he attended Yale Law School and received his Juris Doctor in 2013. It was at Yale that he met his wife, Apoorva Tewari, a medical student and future surgeon.

Making a mark as an entrepreneur

In 2014, at 29, Vivek Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a biotech company focused on acquiring underdeveloped pharmaceuticals and advancing them through clinical trials. He identified overlooked drugs with potential and brought them to market faster than the industry standard. Through Roivant, Mr Ramaswamy earned significant wealth, with the company’s portfolio expanding to include several “vant” subsidiaries such as Myovant and Urovant, each targeting different therapeutic areas. By 2023, he was reported to have accumulated over $250 million in personal earnings from his ventures.

A key financial milestone for Roivant occurred in 2020 when the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Sumitomo Dainippon acquired a 10% stake in Roivant and five of its drugs in a deal valued at $3 billion. This transaction reportedly brought Ramaswamy an estimated $176 million in capital gains.

Opposition to ‘woke capitalism’

Though Vivek Ramaswamy largely avoided politics in his early career, 2020 saw a turning point. He expressed concerns about corporate America’s involvement in social and political issues. His opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal criticised corporates, arguing they prioritised profit-driven social stances at the expense of public trust and integrity. In 2021, he published his book, ‘Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,’ in which he critiqued the ways companies engaged with social issues, saying such involvement was often superficial, profit-driven and even harmful to democratic values. He suggested that companies adopting diversity quotas or divesting from environmentally harmful enterprises were merely attempting to attract customers or distract from other questionable actions rather than genuinely supporting ethical causes.

To counter what he saw as the pitfalls of “woke capitalism,” Vivek Ramaswamy launched Strive Asset Management in 2022, an “anti-woke” index fund provider. Unlike major asset management firms that promoted Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing, Strive aimed to keep politics out of its investment principles.

Backed by investors such as Peter Thiel and JD Vance, Strive presented itself as an alternative for those who wanted to support companies without the pressure of social or environmental mandates. The firm gained rapid traction, with assets surpassing $1 billion by September 2023. Ramaswamy’s net worth was around $1 billion at the same time.

2024 US presidential run

In February 2023, Vivek Ramaswamy announced he would run for Presidency, entering the Republican race alongside Donald Trump and Nikki Haley. Throughout his campaign, Ramaswamy embraced traditional conservative stances, supporting abortion restrictions and opposing affirmative action. But he also promoted several unconventional policies. Among his proposals were raising the standard voting age to 25, curbing birthright citizenship, and deploying the US military to Mexico to annihilate drug cartels. 

He also pledged to significantly reduce the federal workforce by firing over 75 per cent of federal employees and eliminating agencies such as the FBI, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Education, while also dismantling teachers’ unions. On climate, he provocatively suggested that Americans should “be proud to live a high-carbon lifestyle,” adding “more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.”

Early in the campaign, Vivek Ramaswamy gained visibility and emerged as a formidable challenger to Mr Trump. By August 2023, he was known for his media blitz, reportedly conducting about 30 interviews in 24 hours and appearing on over 150 podcasts within six months. His debate performance in August drew praise from CNN as a “breakout moment,” and a Washington Post poll indicated that among Republican voters who watched, only Ron DeSantis performed better. Donald Trump had opted out of the debate.

Despite his strong start, Mr Ramaswamy’s momentum slowed in the following months, with DeSantis and Haley surpassing him in the polls. After finishing fourth in the Iowa Republican caucus on January 15, 2024, he suspended his campaign. That night, he informed supporters of his decision to endorse Mr Trump.

Appointment to the Department of Government Efficiency

Donald Trump has appointed Mr Ramaswamy to co-lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency with Musk. This department, a key initiative of Trump 2.0, aims to optimise government spending and enhance accountability. Ramaswamy’s involvement in the Trump administration reflects his rise as a key figure in conservative political thought. During his campaign and beyond, he became known for similar ideas to Trump’s. He often described himself as a “Trump 2.0” figure. His campaign speeches praised Trump’s leadership, and he endorsed Trump as “the greatest president” in recent history.

Financial success

Beyond his political pursuits, Vivek Ramaswamy’s business achievements have garnered him recognition as one of the wealthiest young entrepreneurs in the US. His fortunes, largely derived from his role in biotech and venture capital, are estimated to exceed $1 billion, securing him a place on Forbes’ “Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40” list.

Mr Ramaswamy’s fortune has also benefited from strategic investments and business moves, including subsidiaries like Myovant Sciences, which raised $218 million in a high-profile IPO in 2016.