From biotech firm to Trump's team: Vivek Ramaswamy's political ascent

Donald Trump has appointed Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to lead the new 'Department of Government Efficiency', aimed at improving government spending and efficiency.

Vivek Ramaswamy was born on August 9, 1985, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents immigrated to the US from Kerala, India.

Vivek Ramaswamy's mother is a geriatric psychiatrist, and his father was an engineer and patent attorney for General Electric.

A national-level tennis player in his youth, Ramaswamy excelled academically, graduating as a topper from his Jesuit high school.

Vivek Ramaswamy graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Biology in 2007 and earned a law degree from Yale University in 2013.

After graduating from Harvard, Vivek worked at a hedge fund, where he earned $7 million over seven years.

While working at the hedge fund, Vivek Ramaswamy met Apoorva Tiwari, who later became his wife. They have a son.

In 2014, at the age of 29, Vivek founded Roivant Sciences, a biotech company. He made the company successful by acquiring and developing incomplete pharmaceutical projects.

In 2021, he published the book "Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam," criticizing corporate America's focus on social issues as a profit-driven tactic.

In February 2023, Ramaswamy entered the Republican presidential race. He raised controversial issues like raising the voting age and abolishing teachers' unions.

He gained significant popularity early on and delivered a strong performance in the August 2023 debate. He also gave over 150 podcast interviews to spread his message.