Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump's pick to co-head Govt Efficiency department?
By Aishwarya Nair | First Published Nov 13, 2024, 11:35 AM ISTUS President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). An Indian-origin, let's know about Vivek Ramaswamy.
US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed tech billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy to head a newly established federal department aimed at cutting government waste and red tape. Trump announced the decision on Tuesday, revealing that Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and social media platform X, alongside Ramaswamy, a pharmaceutical business leader, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
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Their goal is to eliminate government bureaucracy, reduce unnecessary regulations, trim wasteful spending, and reorganize federal agencies to enhance efficiency in the government.
Vivek Ramaswamy: The Indian-American multi-millionaire Shaping U.S. Politics
Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy was born on August 9, 1985, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Tamil-speaking Brahmin parents who had emigrated from Kerala, India. During his childhood in Ohio, Ramaswamy attended a Roman Catholic high school but also frequently visited a Hindu temple in Dayton with his family.
He pursued a degree in biology from Harvard University before enrolling at Yale Law School.
Ramaswamy began his career as a hedge fund investor and, according to his own statements, had already accumulated millions of dollars before graduating from Yale. In 2014, he founded Roivant Sciences, a biotech company that acquired patents for drugs still in the development and marketing stages from larger companies.
He stepped down as CEO in 2021, and by 2023, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $630 million
He is also a vocal critic of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives. In January 2024, Forbes estimated his net worth to be over $960 million, with his wealth stemming from his ventures in biotech and finance.
In 2014, Ramaswamy established Roivant Sciences, a biotechnology firm, with the "Roi" in its name symbolizing return on investment. The company was incorporated in Bermuda, a tax-friendly location, and raised nearly $100 million in initial funding from investors like QVT, RA Capital Management, Visium Asset Management, and prominent hedge funds such as D. E. Shaw & Co. and Falcon Edge Capital. Roivant's business model focused on acquiring patents for underdeveloped drugs from larger pharmaceutical companies and working to bring those drugs to market.
In 2015, Ramaswamy secured $360 million for Axovant Sciences, a subsidiary of Roivant, to market intepirdine as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
In September 2017, Roivant Sciences revealed that intepirdine had failed in a major clinical trial, causing the company's value to plummet. It lost 75% of its worth in a single day and continued to decline afterward. Among the investors who suffered losses were institutional backers, including the California State Teachers' Retirement System pension fund. However, Ramaswamy was largely shielded from the financial impact, as his holdings were through Roivant. The company ultimately decided to discontinue intepirdine.
In January 2021, Ramaswamy resigned as CEO of Roivant Sciences and took on the role of executive chairman. Later that year, the company went public through a reverse merger with Montes Archimedes Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition vehicle, and was listed on the Nasdaq. In February 2023, Ramaswamy stepped down as chairman of Roivant to concentrate on his presidential campaign.
Ramaswamy has contributed politically to both Democratic and Republican causes. In 2016, he gave $2,700 to Dena Grayson, a Florida Democrat running for Congress. Between 2020 and 2023, he donated $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party.
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