Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy capped off his unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign with a higher net worth than when he entered the race 11 months ago, according to a new report.
Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the race after a fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, saw his fortune surge by more than $100 million, according to Forbes, which noted that Ramaswamy is now worth at least $1 billion. The entrepreneur put a staggering $17 million of his own cash into the 2024 race, though he was unable to earn key support from the GOP base and is now backing former President Donald Trump‘s reelection bid.
Ramaswamy campaign spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the Washington Examiner that Ramaswamy’s net worth is north of $1 billion, asserting that his wealth increase “doesn’t have anything to do with running for president.”
“The whole thing makes it seem like he’s making money off politics, and he’s not — he’s had successful businesses,” McLaughlin said. “I honestly don’t even care. I just think there are more interesting stories than this. And I would actually say he’s lost money.”
Two weeks ago, Ramaswamy sold his largest asset: shares of Roivant Sciences, a healthcare company he founded in 2014, for $33 million. Ramaswamy still holds a more than 6% stake in Roivant, which is worth $565 million and has seen its stock price increase by more than 25% since late February 2023, records show.
Meanwhile, Ramaswamy still holds a majority stake in Strive, the “anti-woke” investment company he created in 2022 worth roughly $150 million. And while Ramaswamy traveled the United States seeking to convince voters of his Trump-aligned message, Strive more than doubled its assets — from $500 million last year to $1.1 billion this week — as the businessman grew in name identification.
In late August 2023, Ramaswamy polled nationally at 11.6%, according to FiveThirtyEight.
“Ramaswamy’s campaign strategy only made sense if his goal was to raise his own profile and make more money,” a Republican strategist supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for president told the Washington Examiner. “He calculated that serving as Trump’s wingman while plugging his books and asset management company in speech after speech would yield a worthy ROI on the money he put into his campaign.
“And look at him now: Trump is promoting him, he has a major media presence, and he’s well-positioned to capitalize on his investment,” the strategist added. “The only price he paid was his dignity.”
Ramaswamy faced scrutiny on the campaign trail for perpetually flip-flopping on his policy positions, notably admitting to the Washington Examiner in an interview in July 2023 that he misrepresented his voting history.
Although Ramaswamy told the Washington Examiner at the time, “I appreciate you smoking that out for me,” and said, “That was actually useful,” upon a reporter pointing to the voting discrepancy in an interview, the businessman later posted on social media in response to the story: “This is the most false & intentionally deceitful headline of the campaign so far.”
The businessman’s campaign often clashed with members of the press, including conservative outlets, and banned the Washington Free Beacon from speaking with him after it reported on his appearance on the podcast of an antisemitic YouTuber. The campaign habitually referred to negative stories about him as “planted trash” from other campaigns — particularly DeSantis’s.
McLaughlin told Forbes, “TBD, but if you know Vivek, you know it’s going to be big,” in response to a question from the outlet about what’s next for the businessman.
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McLaughlin has not decided what she will do next either, she told the Washington Examiner.
“I appreciate facts,” she said. “I would hope you do too.”