Vivek Ramaswamy became a Republican fan favorite, bashing woke ideology on the 2024 presidential campaign trail. Before that, he was a successful biotech entrepreneur turned author (Woke Inc. among other books), and he’s now running for Governor of Ohio.
Ramaswamy has varied business interests, but one firm with which he is closely aligned is Strive Asset Management. He co-founded the firm in 2002 along with Anson Frericks as an anti-woke alternative to traditional brokerages. The firm focuses on maximizing shareholder value over pursuing ESG and DEI initiatives. This has proven to be an appealing pitch to many conservative investors, and the company has taken that pitch to red state pension funds.
Strive approached the State of Florida, as well as the states of Texas and Ohio. And, Strive officials have held multiple meetings with the appropriate officials, including the Florida CFO, to discuss investing in Strive.
Those conversations advanced the furthest in Texas where “the Texas Employees Retirement System (ERS) invested $100 million with Strive Asset Management but reversed that spending only a few months later” perhaps related to concerns that were raised by a conservative watchdog group that questioned why Anson Frericks or other Strive staff were not registered lobbyists in Texas, as other asset management firms, including BlackRock, had “multiple lobbyists registered with the state.”
The company now seems to be taking a different tack. Last month, Anson Frericks appeared on Ben Shapiro show. Frericks sold Strive as anti-woke corporate reformers and highlighted Strive’s efforts to fight the “outsized power” of traditional investment firms. The company has also since embarked on a rebranding effort.
The company’s rebranding follows some rough patches lately. Strive’s "common stock has lost 85% in a year." According to financial analysts, “investors in the company’s common stock since May 22, 2025 have lost 93% of their capital and received no dividends.”
Ramaswamy has been a successful entrepreneur and may make a great elected official one day. But, the conservative investors would be wise to do their due diligence before investing in Strive, according to some financial analysts
