Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian-American multi-millionaire former biotech executive, launched his bid for the White House in February 2023. Known for his anti-woke and anti-establishment views, he entered the crowded field of Republican hopefuls, which included Donald Trump and fellow Indian-American Nikki Haley, after making hundreds of millions of dollars at the intersection of hedge funds and pharmaceutical research, a career he charted and built while graduating from Harvard University and Yale Law School.

However, the 38-year-old born in Ohio to immigrant parents from India, ended his White House bid in January this year after finishing fourth in the Republican Party’s first nominating contest in Iowa and endorsed Trump for President.

At the time, Ramaswamy said he made the decision after determining there was no path forward for him in the race, “absent things that we don’t want to see happen in this country”.

“Trump will have my full endorsement for the presidency. And I think we’re going to do the right thing for this country. And so I’m going to ask you to follow me in taking our America First movement to the next level.”

Since endorsing Trump, Ramaswamy has given his unrelenting support to Trump by backing him on a number of critical issues, such as the now President-elect’s plan to deport illegal immigrants from the US.

And on Tuesday night, the Indian-American multi-millionaire’s efforts finally paid off after Trump announced that, together with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Ramaswamy would co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency.

In his announcement, Trump referred to Ramaswamy as an “American Patriot”.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY: AN INDIAN-ORIGIN HINDU RAISED IN AMERICAN MIDWEST

Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy was born on August 9, 1985, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Tamil-speaking Brahmin parents who immigrated to the US from Kerala. While growing up in Ohio, Ramaswamy went to a Roman Catholic high school but also often visited a Hindu temple in Dayton with his family.

He went on to earn a biology degree from Harvard University before attending Yale Law School.

Ramaswamy worked as a hedge fund investor, and per his claims, he had already made several million dollars before graduating from Yale. In 2014, he founded his own biotech company, Roivant Sciences, which bought patents from larger companies for drugs that had yet to be fully developed and marketed.

He resigned as CEO in 2021 and in 2023, Forbes magazine estimated Ramaswamy’s wealth at $630 million.

DA VEK: THE RAPPER

Ramaswamy said that during his days at Harvard, he would perform libertarian-themed rap songs under the stage name ‘Da Vek’.

During a campaign event at the Iowa State Fair in August 2023, his performance of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” went viral on social media. However, the company that manages Eminem’s music sent a notice to Ramaswamy, asking him not to use his songs for his presidential campaign.

As a libertarian, Ramaswamy said he had voted for a libertarian in the 2004 presidential election, but did not vote in 2008, 2012 or 2016.

He has contributed to Republican and Democratic candidates. He says he voted in 2020 for Trump.

‘ANTI-WOKE’ CRUSADER

In recent years, Ramaswamy has become a fierce conservative. In his 2021 bestseller “Woke, Inc.”, Ramaswamy decries decisions by some big companies to base business strategy around social justice and climate change concerns and assails “wokeism” as an insidious influence on hard work, capitalism, religious faith and patriotism.

The book raised his profile among conservatives, and he began his rapid ascent as a right-wing star.

(Inputs from Reuters and The Associated Press)