Indian-origin entrepreneur and political figure Vivek Ramaswamy has seen his net worth soar to $1.8 billion, marking an extraordinary 80% increase in just nine months, according to a new Forbes report. The dramatic rise in his wealth coincides with his ongoing campaign for the Ohio governorship, which he launched in February shortly after ending his 2024 US presidential bid and endorsing Donald Trump. Trump has since returned the favour by endorsing Ramaswamy for governor. In March, Forbes had placed his net worth at just over $1 billion, barely qualifying him for its World Billionaires List.
Much of this financial surge has little to do with politics and instead stems from Ramaswamy’s earlier work in the pharmaceutical sector. The primary driver of his expanding fortune is Roivant Sciences, the biotech company he founded in 2014 after leaving the hedge fund QVT, where he specialised in pharmaceutical investments. Roivant initially built its model around acquiring abandoned drug candidates from major pharmaceutical companies and attempting to revive them. A spokesperson for Ramaswamy confirmed that Forbes’ numbers were “broadly correct”.
Ramaswamy’s financial ascent began early when Roivant’s spinoff, Axovant, went public in 2015 with a valuation of $3 billion. Although Axovant suffered a severe setback when its experimental Alzheimer’s drug failed trials in 2017, it still benefited financially, reporting roughly $37 million in capital gains that year after selling part of its stake. A far more substantial gain arrived in 2019, when Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo bought five Roivant subsidiaries and a 10% stake in the parent company for $3 billion. Ramaswamy later reported over $170 million in capital gains in 2020.
He stepped down as Roivant’s CEO in 2021, and the company went public later that year. In early 2023, he resigned from the board to focus on his presidential run but retained a large holding of shares. That stake grew dramatically in value after Roivant sold its spinoff Telavant to Roche for $7.1 billion. The deal caused Roivant’s stock to jump 34% by the end of the year, pushing Ramaswamy firmly into billionaire territory.
Beyond Roivant, Ramaswamy also owns a significant stake in Chapter, a startup he co-founded in 2020 to help seniors navigate Medicare. The company recently raised $75 million in a Series D round at a $1.5 billion valuation. A person familiar with the company said Ramaswamy’s share, estimated at around 6.7%, is worth approximately $100 million.
After leaving Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in January, Ramaswamy entered the Ohio governor’s race, receiving endorsements from Trump and Elon Musk. The Ohio Republican Party officially backed him in May, solidifying his position as a frontrunner ahead of the November 2026 election. Born in Cincinnati to Indian immigrant parents, Ramaswamy is married to throat surgeon Apoorva Tewari, and the couple have two children. His rapid rise—spanning biotech, high finance, and politics—has made him one of the most closely watched figures in American public life.
