COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A son of immigrants who attended Ivy League schools, became a billionaire and confidant of President Donald Trump is now an Ohio gubernatorial candidate. 

Vivek Ramaswamy has filed paperwork to run for governor and made his official announcement Monday.

Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati in 1985 to Indian immigrants. His father was an engineer for General Electric and his mother worked as a geriatric psychiatrist. 

After growing up in Ohio, Ramaswamy graduated with honors from Harvard University, where he earned a biology degree. He then went on to Yale Law School, where he met and befriended fellow Ohioan and current Vice President JD Vance. 

Ramaswamy co-founded Campus Venture Network in 2007, which was a social network for business-minded college students; he sold the company in 2009.  From 2007 to 2014, Ramaswamy worked QVT Financial, a hedge fund where he managed the firm’s biotech portfolio. 

After graduating from Yale in 2013, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a company whose net worth is more than $7 billion. He stepped down as CEO in 2021. In 2022, he cofounded the Columbus-based “anti-woke” asset management firm Strive Asset Management. 

Ramaswamy came to prominence in 2023 when he entered the 2024 Republican presidential primary; he bowed out in January 2024 after coming in fourth in the Iowa caucus and went on to endorse Trump. At one point, Ramaswamy was among a handful of names being considered as Trump’s running mate. 

After Trump’s win in November, Ramaswamy, along with Elon Musk, was named to lead the Department of Government Efficiency. On Jan. 20, the day the Trump administration returned to the White House, Ramaswamy stepped away from DOGE, reportedly to focus on his run for Ohio governor. 

Ramaswamy married his wife, Apoorva, in 2015, and they have two sons. 

Just a few hours after his official announcement, Ramaswamy picked up Trump’s endorsement in the race.

“He’s Young, Strong, and Smart!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. “Vivek is also a very good person, who truly loves our Country. He will be a GREAT Governor of Ohio, will never let you down, and has my COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT!”

Ramaswamy holds many of the political positions found in the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, calling himself a Second Amendment absolutist, pushing for stronger southern border control, supporting Russia in its war with Ukraine, and suggesting that the federal workforce should be cut by half. 

Ramaswamy is joined in the Republican gubernatorial primary by Morgan County business owner Heather Hill and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. On the Democratic side, only former Ohio Health Director Amy Acton has announced her candidacy.

The general election to decide Ohio’s governor will be held on Nov. 3, 2026.