PALAKKAD: President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to pick Indian American Vivek Ramaswamy, along with X owner Elon Musk, to lead the newly created department of government efficiency (DOGE), aimed at reducing wasteful spending and cleaning up the bureaucracy, has been greeted with elation by Vivek’s relatives in Palakkad.
Speaking to TNIE, Vivek’s second cousin V M Prasad, a senior lawyer, said the news is a proud moment for the family. “The entire family is very excited, pleased and happy to see the confidence president-elect Trump has placed on Vivek’s ability to take the lead in creating change in the administration of the government,” said Prasad. “We are certain that Vivek will be able fulfil the responsibilities entrusted to him with utmost sincerity, integrity and commitment. We seek God’s blessings for Vivek and family and his parents” he added. Vivek and Prasad’s grandmothers are sisters.
Since last year, when Vivek submitted his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, his relatives have been keenly observing political developments in the country. The biotech entrepreneur later dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.
The early days
Vivek was born in 1985 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Ganapathy and Geetha Ramaswamy, who had moved to the United State from Kerala in the 1970s.
A graduate of REC Kozhikode, Ganapathy worked as an engineer and patent attorney for General Electric (GE), while Geetha was a geriatric psychiatrist.
After his undergraduate degree in biology from Harvard University in 2007, Vivek worked for a hedge fund and made $7 million in seven years. He completed his degree in law in 2013 from Yale University, where he met his future wife, Apoorva Tewari, a medical student who would later go on to become an otolaryngologist surgeon.
In 2014, as a 29-year-old, Vivek launched his pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences.