Vivek Ramaswamy is preparing to announce his candidacy to replace Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich. Multiple outlets reported on Friday that Mike DeWine was not chosen to replace JD Vance, the Vice President-elect, in the Senate.

The New York Times reported anonymous sources that Ramaswamy is a biotech entrepreneur Forbes estimated to be worth more than $1 billion. He will replace DeWine who, under Ohio law, cannot run for a third term. However, Ramaswamy does not intend to leave his current role in Trump’s administration immediately.

Ramaswamy will work with Musk at DOGE before he runs for governor in 2026. Trump said that DOGE would lead “large-scale structural reform” of the federal government.

Ramaswamy had been mentioned as a possible replacement for Vance, but DeWine chose Lt. Jon Husted was chosen for the role.

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Ramaswamy is an Ohio native who was born in Cincinnati of Indian immigrants. He has never served in public office.

Ramaswamy started the biotechnology company Roivant Sciences back in 2014. The company went public 2021. He owns 10% of the company and has earned hundreds of millions. To build his wealth, he invested these funds into an investment portfolio. He resigned as CEO of Roivant in 2021 and entered politics with “Woke Inc.,” which was a critical look at the way corporate America had turned its attention to social issues. In 2022, he founded Strive Asset Management, a provider of “anti-woken” index funds. The following year, he declared his candidacy to the Republican presidential nomination. He was second richest in the race, behind Trump. He supported raising the voting age from 18 to 25. He opposed abortion. He ran almost a full year, before ending his campaign and endorsing Trump in January 2024. Ramaswamy was appointed by Trump to head DOGE in November along with Musk. The pair has since announced plans for cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget. Musk and Ramaswamy don’t have to go through a Senate confirmation because they aren’t cabinet-level appointments.

Important Quote

Trump announced the appointment of Ramaswamy and Musk to DOGE in a press release. “Together these two wonderful Americans pave the path for my Administration to demolish Government Bureaucracy and cut excise regulations. They will also reduce wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Trump stated. It could become the ‘Manhattan Project’ of today.

Tangent

Ramaswamy, a billionaire himself, is the latest billionaire to be considered for a major position in government. After Trump’s election, many of the richest people in the world and their spouses were offered key roles in the new administration. Along with Musk and Ramaswamy they also include Stephen Feinberg (5 billion), Warren Stephens (3,3 billion), Jasmine Isaacman (1,7 billion), Howard Lutnick (1.5 billion), Steve Witkoff (one billion), Linda McMahon ($3 billion), and Kelly Loeffler ($1 billion) (husband Jeff Sprecher worth $1 billion).

Big Number

1. There are a lot of billionaire state governors. JB Pritzker is worth $3.7billion and serving his second term as Illinois governor.