As Americans of all stripes debate contentious social issues, one group in particular is making its voice heard: corporate leaders. Citing the doctrines of “stakeholder capitalism” and “corporate social responsibility,” business executives are no longer content to fulfill their obligations to their shareholdera. Meanwhile, cutting-edge tech companies have gone from hosting fractious political arguments to participating in them. What does this entanglement between business and politics portend for the future of American democracy?
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy went from being an accomplished investor to starting his own company, Roivant Sciences. In the process, he’s gained insight into the changing corporate world, in which his fellow executives wield their market power to advance their desired causes. As firms in industries from entertainment to finance wade into our political conversations, the nature of American capitalism is changing—and Ramaswamy can explain how and why.
Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) is the founder and CEO of Roivant Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative medicines faster by building technology and deploying talent in creative ways. After graduating from Harvard in 2007, he began his career as a successful biotech investor and oversaw investments in numerous companies, including those that developed curative treatments for hepatitis C virus. He continued to work as an investor while earning his law degree from Yale Law School, where he was a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow.
Mr. Ramaswamy has authored numerous articles and op-eds which have appeared in diverse outlets including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and The Dispatch. He recently published two op-eds in the Wall Street Journal on the relationship between capitalism and democracy and the threat of undue corporate influence on public institutions. He has emerged as a prominent commentator on this topic, appearing on Fox Business, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and other programs.
Earlier this year Mr. Ramaswamy was appointed to the Ohio coronavirus task force. He serves on the board of directors of The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a nonpartisan think tank focused on expanding economic opportunity to those who least have it.