Vivek Ramaswamy was one of the main stars of the GOP debate that was held on Wednesday. The Indian-American billionaire captured viewers' attention every time he intervened at the event. In fact, Ramaswamy sparked so much curiosity among Americans that he topped Google's list of trending searches on Wednesday, ahead of other topics such as the Inter Miami soccer match or the death of Prigozhin:
Realtime search Trends ahead of tonight's #GOPDebate https://t.co/U6v0rSTkD0 pic.twitter.com/1sgkIcAocT
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) August 23, 2023
Vivek Ramaswamy was one of the great stars of the evening. The candidate from Ohio seemed to enjoy every minute of the debate and made clear the ten policies he would apply if he were to be elected to the White House.
His proposals reaffirm Ramaswamy's conservative ideology. He criticized the LGBT lobby, Biden's immigration policies and reverse racism. He also defended the traditional American values of family, capitalism and, most importantly, the U.S. Constitution, which he declared, is "the strongest guarantor of freedom in history":
TRUTH.
1. God is real.
2. There are two genders.
3. Human flourishing requires fossil fuels.
4. Reverse racism is racism.
5. An open border is no border.
6. Parents determine the education of their children.
7. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to… pic.twitter.com/MTjhqquwl4— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 24, 2023
Despite fervently defending his ideals, the rest of the opponents did not seem excited about Ramaswamy's candidacy. He sparred several times with Mike Pence, who accused him of being a "rookie" which, in his opinion, does not qualify him to lead the country.
Preparation prior to the debate
If Ramaswamy can be proud of anything, it is his popularity. Despite going head-to-head with Pence, the polls place him in third place as the Republican candidate, second only to Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis (some recent polls even put him ahead of the Florida governor).
His notoriety, however, comes from long before the debate took place. Since announcing his candidacy for the primaries, the billionaire son of Indian immigrants has captured much of the media's attention. He did so mainly by presenting himself as a strong defender of meritocratic politics and an opponent of progressive initiatives such as critical race theory and ESG criteria.
In fact, The New Yorker magazine named him a few months ago "CEO of Anti-Woke, Inc." He is very proud of that title. He has even criticized the Biden administration's woke policies days before the debate took place:
2024 GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy raps Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” at the Iowa State Fair. pic.twitter.com/xUxlxUf3TY
— The Recount (@therecount) August 12, 2023
It wasn't the only thing that helped him prepare for the debate. In the days leading up to the debate, Vivek Ramaswamy posted videos exercising with his personal trainer:
More debate prep this morning, with my favorite sparring partner. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/QM2xpfkD5k
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 22, 2023
His presence wasn't just limited to entertaining the masses on social media. He also appeared in the media to make his political ideals clear. One of his last appearances was with Tucker Carlson, with whom he launched his presidential campaign. Both met again on X (Twitter) and the billionaire again lashed out at the LGBT lobby which he accused of acting like "a cult":
These are cult-like belief systems. Right, because if it’s a religious cult, then you don’t have any obligation to logic if you’re subscribing to a religion. And the worst religions are the ones that fail to recognize themselves as religions … The most dangerous religions of all are those that claim to be secular but are actually religious in their conviction.
Ep. 17 Vivek Ramaswamy is the youngest Republican presidential candidate ever. He's worth listening to. pic.twitter.com/9wGqptHdto
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 17, 2023
Early years and education
The biotech entrepreneur was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents are originally from the state of Kerala, India. He was valedictorian of his class at St. Xavier High School where he graduated in 2003. He was a nationally-ranked junior tennis player and "an accomplished pianist."
In 2007, he graduated summa cum laude from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in biology. He was a Phi Beta Kappa member. His graduate thesis - on ethical issues raised by creating human/animal chimeras - was awarded the Bowdoin Prize in Natural Sciences, and was reviewed in The New York Times and The Boston Globe. In 2013, he completed a J.D. at Yale Law School.
Businesses, non-profit work and recognition
In 2007, Ramaswamy co-founded Campus Venture Network, a technology company that provided software and networking resources to university entrepreneurs. Simultaneously, he worked at the investment management firm QVT Financial until 2014. There he was a partner and co-director of the Biotechnology Department.
In 2014, he founded Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company that applies technology in drug development. He was CEO until 2021. In 2020, he co-founded Chapter Medicare, the only consumer-centric Medicare navigation platform. He is also the founder of both Axovant Sciences, another clinical-stage pharmaceutical focused on dementia treatments and the biotech company Urovant, which focuses on treating urological disorders.
Ramaswamy is currently co-founder and executive chairman of Strive Asset Management, an Ohio-based asset management firm. The company was created as an alternative to the big asset managers (BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard) which Ramaswamy constantly criticizes for mixing business with politics and for engaging in environmental, social and governance activities (ESG criteria).
Ramaswamy served on the board of directors of The Philanthropy Roundtable and was a trustee of The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FreOpp). He was also featured on the cover of Forbes magazine in 2015 for his work in drug development.
Books written by Ramaswamy
In 2021, Ramaswamy resigned as CEO of Roivant Sciences in order to publish his first book "Woke, Inc: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam." The billionaire describes it as a critique of the "stakeholder capitalism," and argues that corporate efforts to promote social causes "rob us of our money, our voice and our identity." The book debuted at #2 on The New York Times bestseller list.
In 2022 he published his second book "Nation of Victims." In it, he claimed that the disappearance of excellence and exceptionalism - central elements of American identity - left a deep moral and cultural void in the nation. Using historical examples, he declared that "the culture of victimhood" is to blame for the "decline of the United States."
