Earlier this year, Republican presidential primary contender Vivek Ramaswamy made headlines when the asset management firm he co-founded in 2022, Strive Asset Management, crossed $1 billion in assets under management. Crossing the $1 billion mark is a significant feat for any asset management company–but it is even more impressive given that Mr. Ramaswamy launched Strive just a year and a half ago.
Strive quickly attracted capital from investors thanks to its unique marketing approach: claiming that Strive’s suite of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are "anti-woke” and “anti-ESG." These claims are so integral to the wider Ramaswamy brand that they earned him the title “CEO of Anti-Woke, Inc.” in the media, even as he stepped down from running Strive to run for U.S. president.
