Vivek Ramaswamy joined the Republican race to become US president earlier this year – and although he is behind Donald Trump – the ambitious young man has started to gain support in the US.
The 38-year-old investor is the youngest Republican candidate in history.
His agenda focuses on restoring the American dream, in a country “lost” by “racism”, “climatism”, “covidism” and “gender ideology”.
What is he planning?
Ramaswamy is a political novice. He considered running for senator in his native Ohio in 2022, but later withdrew.
He announced his candidacy for President in February on Tucker Carlson Tonight. Although he himself is an ardent supporter of Trump, having appeared out of court in two of the three cases brought against the former president so far, Ramaswamy has decided to present himself as his successor.
He says he is prepared to go further than Trump on some issues.
Instead of just building a wall along the US-Mexico border, he says he will deploy soldiers at half-mile intervals along it. He has also promised to abolish the FBI, reallocating staff to what he believes are more effective agencies like the US Marshals Service so they can focus on issues like child trafficking.
In a major blow to Western support for Ukraine, he has said he would back a deal that allows Russia to keep what territory it has.
The 38-year-old will soon publish a “comprehensive foreign policy vision” for Russia, China, Taiwan, India and other parts of Asia.
What did he say?
Ramaswamy has published two books. In them he compares the “intelligent left” to “psychological slavery”, claiming how a “new secular religion” says that gender, race and sexual orientation determine who we are and what we can achieve in life.
“America is a systematically racist nation. If you are black, you are inherently disadvantaged. If you are white, you are basically privileged”, he adds.
He also says that America has become a country full of victims where “faith, patriotism and hard work have disappeared”.
His campaign, he says, will mean “a new movement to create a new American dream.”
What is his background and what is his net worth?
Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1985.
His parents are from Kerala, south India. His father worked as an engineer and his mother as a geriatric psychiatrist.
Although the family is Hindu, he attended Catholic school and credits his conservative Christian piano teacher there with informing many of his social views.
After achieving top grades, he studied biology at Harvard before attending Yale Law School.
While still studying, he co-founded StudentBusinesses.com connecting entrepreneurs with professional resources online.
After graduating in 2007 he co-founded a similar venture called Campus Venture Network to help university students launch their own start-ups.
During the first years of his career he worked in hedge funds, mainly in the field of biotechnology. In 2014 he created his firm Roivant Sciences with the main goal of acquiring drug licenses that have been abandoned by the pharmaceutical industry.
A year later it launched one of the largest IPOs (initial public offering) in the history of the sector when it listed shares in its subsidiary company, Axovant, which had previously bought the license to an Alzheimer’s drug from GlaxoSmithKline.
Despite having raised $315 million from the IPO – the drug ultimately failed to test. According to him, this experience was humiliating.
He stepped down as Roivant’s chief executive in 2021, but still retains a 7% stake in the company.
Last year he co-founded a new investment firm called Strive Asset Management.
Now he claims he has broad support from young voters and donors. He says about 40% of his 700,000 financial backers have offered small donations.
Forbes reported that his net worth is estimated at $630 million, and so far he has spent $15 million of that on his campaign.
