Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy often shares a rags-to-riches story on the campaign trail, claiming that his parents immigrated to the U.S. with nothing.
However, public records and Ramaswamy's past writings reveal a more complex picture of his upbringing.
During the recent Fox News-hosted debate in Milwaukee, Ramaswamy emphasized his background as an entrepreneur and stated, "My parents came to this country with no money 40 years ago. I have gone on to found multibillion-dollar companies." He also mentioned that he "didn't grow up in money" while discussing his support for school choice.
Ramaswamy frequently uses this narrative to connect with voters and distinguish himself from former President Donald Trump, asserting that he built his companies from scratch, unlike Trump who inherited his wealth. However, a closer look at his family background reveals a different story.
Ramaswamy was born in 1985 in Cincinnati to V. Ganapathy Ramaswamy and Geetha Ramaswamy, both highly educated professionals in India. His father, who held a graduate degree in engineering, immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s and worked as an engineer at General Electric for over 20 years. In 1985, Ramaswamy's mother immigrated to America, and Vivek was born that August.
Ramaswamy's mother already had a medical degree in geriatric psychiatry from Mysore Medical College & Research Institute in India before coming to the U.S. She obtained her license to practice in Oklahoma shortly after arriving, although it is unclear why she chose Oklahoma. Her Ohio medical license, obtained in 1987, is still active, and she worked as a geriatric psychiatrist and medical director at a private practice in Cincinnati for many years.
In his book "Nation of Victims," Ramaswamy described his family as "comfortably middle-class" during his sixth-grade years, with both parents having stable incomes. However, the threat of layoffs loomed over them. By the time Ramaswamy was in high school, his father had transitioned to working as a patent attorney at General Electric.
Ramaswamy attended an elite private high school in Cincinnati, where tuition now exceeds $16,000 per year. His parents also established a stock portfolio for him, which generated hundreds of dollars in dividends before he graduated high school and thousands by the time he attended Harvard. These details were revealed in his 2002-2004 tax returns, which he released in June.
Questions about Ramaswamy's past have intensified as he has risen in the polls, currently ranking third behind Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Recently, it was reported that Ramaswamy became a millionaire before accepting a scholarship from the Soros family, which he claimed was necessary to pay for law school.
Ramaswamy defended himself by explaining that he didn't have the financial means to afford Yale Law School after graduating from Harvard. He accepted a $90,000 award from the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans in 2011, while he was a first-year law student at Yale. At the time, he had been working as an investment analyst at the hedge fund QVT Financial.
In response to criticism, Ramaswamy's campaign spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, stated that he won a generic scholarship that hundreds of students receive for graduate school. She clarified that the scholarship was funded by a relative of George Soros who has since passed away. McLaughlin emphasized that turning down such a scholarship would have been foolish, and she pointed out that Ramaswamy is not the candidate George Soros supports in the primary.
As questions about Ramaswamy's background continue to arise, it is clear that his upbringing was more financially stable than his campaign narrative suggests. While his parents did immigrate to the U.S. and worked hard to establish themselves professionally, Ramaswamy's family had access to resources and opportunities that contributed to his success.
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