Bill Ackman, the mastermind behind Pershing Square, has made an audacious forecast for the 2024 Republican primary race, foreseeing victory for Vivek Ramaswamy, who is currently lagging in the GOP polls.
Ramaswamy, a highly successful entrepreneur, has a deep understanding of business, economics, healthcare, politics, history, and geopolitics, Ackman said. “He [Ramaswamy] is young, smart, talented and will attract the center to the right to win. He speaks hard truths which many believe but fear to say,” he elaborated.
According to Ackman, Ramaswamy’s candidness, business acumen, discipline, and energy are worthy of respect, even if one doesn’t agree with all of his views. He also stressed that “the improbable candidate often wins,” citing examples of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.
Born to Indian immigrants in Cincinnati, Ramaswamy’s accomplishments span multiple sectors. He boasts a bachelor’s degree in biology from Harvard and a law doctorate from Yale Law School. After a stint as a partner at a hedge fund, he launched Roivant Sciences, a biopharma portfolio-holding company, and later co-founded Strive Asset Management. His net worth was approximately $630 million as of April, according to Forbes.
Ramaswamy threw his hat into the GOP primary ring in February and has since positioned himself as an anti-woke activist. Currently, he is ranked fourth in GOP opinion polls with 4.6% support, as reported by FiveThirtyEight. He trails Mike Pence (7.4%) but lags far behind Ron DeSantis (21%) and Donald Trump (49.7%).
Ackman believes Ramaswamy could surpass Pence and even “rapidly approach” DeSantis in the polls following the next debate. He foresees a challenge to Trump and believes Ramaswamy has hit “the tipping point.”
Despite his enthusiasm for Ramaswamy, Ackman’s first choice remains Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan, as he believes the U.S. needs a more centrist president. Ackman hopes for Dimon’s entry into the race, saying, “I have reason to believe he may run. Let’s hope it happens.”
He concludes that a face-off between Dimon and Ramaswamy would create an “asymmetric bet” that he would be willing to make. In Ackman’s words, “Imagine if two of our most talented and intelligent citizens faced off for president. What a wonderful world that would be.”
