'Vivek's net worth is $1.8 billion': Row over Ramaswamy promising to 'put money back in citizens’ pockets' if elected Ohio governor

Vivek Ramaswamy stirred a row over his Ohio governor bid after promising to "put money back in the pockets of American citizens" to tackle the state’s affordability crisis, despite his personal net worth of over $1.8 billion, according to Forbes.

The Indian‑origin businessman and former DOGE executive said that Ohio needs to stop feeding the beast: "I mean, the bureaucracy's overgrown. I have never met a single American—left or right—in traveling my state [or] the country who said we need a little bit more red tape and bureaucracy. I've met a lot of Americans who understand we need a lot less. Stop feeding the beast. Put money back in your pockets, in the pockets of Americans. That's how you actually make America prosper. That's how you make our country more affordable. Get that done—we got our country back."

Ramaswamy has already secured the Ohio Republican Party’s endorsement and support from US President Donald Trump. His main rival is Democratic candidate Amy Acton, who holds a slight lead in some polls. Businessman Casey Putsch is also running in the GOP primary.




However, social media recalled that Ramaswamy received up to $90,000 from the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans in 2011 to support his graduate law studies at Yale University. At the same time, he reported about $2.25 million in income from his work as an investment analyst and related activities. This led some to question why Vivek was even considered for extra money, when there were less privileged people present at the time.

Ramaswamy has also faced scrutiny over his biotech venture, Axovant (founded in 2014), which bought a failed Alzheimer’s drug, took it public, and later saw shares collapse, which made early investors super rich. The move was called a pump‑and‑dump scheme or basically a fraud as it funneled a lot of money to Vivek, but Ramaswamy’s campaign denied any allegations and defended his business record.