Who Is Republican Presidential Candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy?

The 2024 presidential election is looming on the horizon, and so far, a whopping 13 Republican hopefuls have declared their candidacy. The first to announce he was running was former President Donald Trump in November 2022, followed shortly by Vivek Ramaswamy in February 2023. In an editorial for The Wall Street Journal, Ramaswamy explained his reason for running. "America is in the midst of a national identity crisis. We hunger for purpose at a moment when faith, patriotism and hard work are on the decline. We embrace secular religions like climatism, Covidism and gender ideology to satisfy our need for meaning, yet we can't answer what it means to be an American," he wrote.

As an Indian American born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ramaswamy has never held office, and at 38 years old, he's the youngest Republican running. Still, his lack of political experience and young age isn't deterring him and he's pushing hard, having loaned $15 million of his own money to his campaign — and as a successful entrepreneur, he has a lot more to spend on his run.

Vivek Ramaswamy set out on his path to success at a young age. After graduating valedictorian of his high school class, he studied at Harvard and received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School. He earned his fortune by starting the biotech company Roivant Sciences in 2014. Ramaswamy then founded Strive Asset Management in 2022, which is valued at roughly $300 million, according to Forbes. He is now worth more than $950 million, which dropped from his billion-dollar status due to a dip in the market. Still, Ramaswamy doesn't live a relatively lavish life, and shared, "I don't think we have lived a lifestyle that is radically removed from the one we grew up in. We don't have giant vacation homes. We see five of our neighbors' backyards. We have good relationships with our neighbors."

Ramaswamy is also an accomplished author, having published three books on politics and capitalism, including "Woke, Inc.," and "Nation of Victims." As a self-described "anti-woke" person, his conservative political views formed as an adolescent based on those around him. "[My piano teacher] influenced me with modes of conservative thought that I probably wouldn't have thought about in the past. Which were really the groundedness and importance of family, and sort of calling my attention to how blessed I was to grow up in a stable family environment like the one that I was in," he shared with Time. Ramaswamy has taken those values into adulthood, and while on campaign, sang his wife's praises.

Running for president of the United States is a very lofty aspiration, but Vivek Ramaswamy doesn't think he's any more important than his wife, Apoorva Tewari, who works as a throat surgeon and specialist at Ohio State University Hospital. "I think I do derive a lot of the humility from my wife, who is a leader in her own way, in her own unique world," Ramaswamy shared during his campaign stop in Atlanta (via Fox Business). He praised Tewari for handling "twelve cases," while also taking care of their two sons while he was away. "When I go home, do I look at her and say, 'Hey what I'm doing is more important for our entire family?' Far from it. Each of us has a contribution to make in our own way. Could I be possible making the contribution that she's making every day? No, I cannot," he declared.

While it's unclear how old his sons are, Ramaswamy has boasted that, at 38 years old, if he is elected and completes two terms, his oldest will not yet be in high school. When possible, he brings his sons and wife with him on the campaign trail and shared a shot of the smiling family on Instagram. "Excited to be with these guys in Iowa!" he wrote.