Vivek Ramaswamy wasn’t on most people’s radars when he jumped into the 2024 presidential race last February. But with the first debate of 2024 Republican candidates set to kick off Wednesday evening, he has quickly become the center of conversation—and will be looking to grab an even bigger share of the spotlight now that Donald Trump, the party’s brightest star who was recently indicted in Georgia, will be skipping the gathering.
While Trump still holds a commanding lead over every candidate in polls, the second-place spot—previously held somewhat comfortably by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—has lately belonged to Ramaswamy. That’s notable for someone who was capturing not even 1% of voters when he began running just six months ago.
As Ramaswamy’s profile grows larger, voters are becoming more curious about this 38-year old candidate—perhaps no more than Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds who watched him rap to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” at the Iowa State Fair with an indescribable expression on her face. For his part, Ramaswamy certainly seems to be enjoying himself far more than his competitors, speaking his mind no matter who might object to what comes out of his mouth.
In many ways, Ramaswamy seems to be successfully following the same playbook that got Donald Trump into the White House in 2016. Here’s what to know about him.
He’s a political newcomer
Just as Trump entered the 2016 presidential race with zero political experience, Ramaswamy has never run for office before. He raised his profile by becoming a regular guest on Fox News and other networks following the publication of his book, Woke Inc., which became a New York Times best seller.
Republicans eventually lobbied him to run for a Senate seat in Ohio. He considered it, but opted to make a run for the White House instead.
He’s anti-establishment
Ramaswamy might often be seen with a wide smile and doing things unimaginable by other Republican candidates, but his message is the stuff of liberal nightmares. He has seemingly embraced far-right conspiracy theories (such as the 9/11 attacks being a government plot, and the Federal Reserve adding zeros to media-company bank accounts). And he might be even more anti-“woke” than DeSantis.
He has said he plans, if elected, to forbid gender-affirming care for people under the age of 18, saying trans kids have mental health problems. He has talked about shutting down the FBI, IRS, and the Department of Education, among other government agencies.
“I’m going to be the president of government shutdown, as in literally shutting down the administrative state that sits under the executive branch,” he told Fox News. “That will be a big part of my domestic policy legacy because that will also stimulate our economy. The regulatory state is the wet blanket on businesses across this country. So not only will we restore our three-branch constitutional republic, we will also restore four-plus-percent GDP growth in this country. That’s two wins.”
He also says he plans to impose term-limits for federal civil servants and eliminate 75% of the federal bureaucracy through “mass layoffs,” which he believes he can do without Congressional approval.
He’s a billionaire businessman
Like Trump, Ramaswamy is leaning heavily on his business successes to win over voters. He’s the second-richest person (behind Trump) running for the Republican nomination, with an estimated net worth in the $1 billion range.
He made his money running a drug-development company named Roivant Sciences, which is best known for its high-profile failure with an Alzheimer’s drug. Ramaswamy founded the company nine years ago and took it public in 2021. It trades for less than $3 per share, but his 10% ownership is worth about $840 million and that doesn’t include the hundreds of millions he has taken in salary, bonuses, and capital gains. (He stepped down from the company in January 2021.)
He has also invested a bit in Bitcoin and Ethereum and owns shares in Rumble, a video-sharing service that’s popular with conservatives. And he’s the founder of an anti-”woke” index fund called Strive Asset Management.
Prior to all that, he worked at the hedge fund QVT, specializing in pharmaceutical investments. He made $7 million in his first seven years there.
His rise caught a lot of people, inside and outside of the party, by surprise
Like Trump, few believed Ramaswamy would get far in the polls, given his lack of experience and some of his more unusual campaign promises. But his campaign philosophy of “Let Vivek be Vivek” is resonating with voters tired of the carbon-copy political machine candidates. He is, in some ways, the Republican version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—young and energetic, with strong opinions and a sense of vibrancy.
And while many of his policies speak to the Republican base and MAGA-minded voters who are unsure about Trump in ’24, he has also courted a younger voter, appearing on over 70 podcasts and countless news programs, while putting out exponentially more online content than his competitors.
He might have been an unknown back in February, but with the election a little more than 14 months away, a lot of people know his name now.