Indian-American businessman Vivek Ramaswamy officially dropped out of the 2024 United States presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump’s candidacy on Monday, 15 January. As quoted by the news agency AFP, the decision came after a disappointing finish in Iowa, said his spokesperson.
“We will work to make sure Donald Trump is the next president,” Vivek Ramaswamy said after quitting the presidential race at the Iowa Caucus.
A tech entrepreneur, Ramaswamy announced his 2024 campaign on 21 February 2023 with a pledge to "bring merit back" and to stop the US’ dependence on China.
Who is Vivek Ramaswamy?
Ramaswamy was born to Indian immigrants in Ohio’s Cincinnati in August 1985. His father, G Ramaswamy, worked at the General Electric plant in Ohio’s Evendale, while his mother, Geetha, was a geriatric psychiatrist in Cincinnati. The pair had moved to the US from Kerala’s city of Palakkad.
He grew up in Ohio and went to Harvard University, where he earned a degree in molecular biology and graduated in 2007.
Subsequently, he attended Yale Law School to pursue a Doctor of Jurisprudence, where he was the president of the Harvard Political Union and used to perform “Eminem covers and original free-market-themed rap songs as a kind of alter ego called Da Vek,” a December 2022 New Yorker profile said.
After graduating from Harvard, Ramaswamy worked as an analyst at QVT Financial LP, a hedge fund based in New York. He then joined MPM Capital, a life sciences venture capital firm, where he focused on investing in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
In 2015, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company that aims to accelerate the development and delivery of new treatments for diseases. Roivant Sciences has raised over $3 billion in funding and has multiple subsidiaries focused on developing treatments for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and cancer.
Six years later, he stepped down Roivant's CEO to publish his book 'Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam,' which debuted at the second spot on The New York Times bestseller list.
In 2022, he launched Strive Asset Management, a newly formed organisation dedicated to revitalising the voices of ordinary Americans in the American economy by motivating businesses to prioritise quality over politics.
(This is a developing copy. It will be updated with more details.)
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