President-elect Donald Trump has selected Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate and Ohio native, to help lead a new initiative aimed at slashing government spending.
Ramaswamy will oversee the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, with Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, Trump said in a statement Tuesday.
But who is Ramaswamy? Here are some facts about the Ohio billionaire who has been appointed to President Trump’s Cabinet.
Where is Vivek Ramaswamy from?
Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of Evendale. His father was an engineer and patent attorney for General Electric. His mother is a geriatric psychiatrist, according to a December New Yorker profile.
Ramaswamy attended Princeton Junior High and St. Xavier High School. He accumulated several accolades from his childhood, both academic and athletic. He was a standout tennis player and part of the top-ranked St. Xavier Bombers tennis team. He was also valedictorian at St. Xavier in 2003.
Ramaswamy has a younger brother named Shankar, per Encyclopedia Brittanica.
How old is Vivek Ramaswamy?
Ramaswamy was born Aug. 9, 1985, making him 39 years old.
Who is Vivek Ramaswamy’s wife?
Ramaswamy is married to Apoorva Tewari Ramaswamy, a Yale graduate, surgeon, cancer researcher and professor.
She currently serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at The Ohio State University. She also serves on the medical advisory board of the National Foundation of Swallow Disorders and multiple committees for the Dysphagia Research Society, per the university’s website.
They married in 2015 and have two sons, Karthik and Arjun.
Where did Vivek Ramaswamy go to college?
Ramaswamy has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School, where he graduated with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, a fellow southwest Ohio native.
Vivek Ramaswamy made a fortune in pharmaceuticals and biotech
Ramaswamy founded the pharmaceutical research company Roivant Sciences in 2014. Roivant Sciences struck a deal in 2021 that valued the company at $7.3 billion, according to Forbes. Roivant Sciences has corporate offices in New York, Boston and Basel, Switzerland.
He also founded Strive Asset Management, an investment firm that aims to persuade companies to stay out of politics and social issues, in 2022.
Vivek Ramaswamy is a published author
Ramaswamy is the author of three books, including “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam.”
When did Ramaswamy drop out of the 2024 presidential race?
Ramaswamy entered the 2024 presidential race in February 2023, promising to “out-Trump” the president-elect. On the campaign trail, he called for shutting down the Department of Education, FBI and other government agencies.
However, Ramaswamy ended his bid in January after finishing fourth in the Iowa Caucuses.
“There’s no path for me to be the next president, absent things we don’t want to see happen in this country,” he said in a speech announcing that he was suspending his campaign.
Vivek Ramaswamy was a libertarian rapper
While attending Harvard University, Ramaswamy reportedly had an alter ego named “Da Vek,” a libertarian rapper. Da Vek could be seen on campus dressed all in black, including a black Kangol hat, dropping libertarian rhymes, the Harvard Crimson reported in 2006.
A New Yorker profile also described Da Vek’s repertoire as Eminem covers and “original free-market-themed rap songs.” Ramaswamy told the Harvard Crimson in 2006 that Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” was his life’s theme song.
What is Vivek Ramaswamy’s net worth?
Forbes estimates Ramaswamy’s real-time net worth is $1 billion, as of Nov. 13, 2024.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Who is Vivek Ramaswamy? Get to know the billionaire in Trump’s Cabinet
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