A group of prominent investors has formed a new firm to fight back against the big Wall Street players pushing wokeness on major corporations, announcing the fund’s launch Monday.
Strive Asset Management, backed by Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel and ex-biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy, seeks to take on “the three largest U.S. asset managers — BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street,” arguing the firms have caused “consumer harms” such as high gas prices and pushed unfavorable social agendas, according to a press release announcing the company’s launch.
The company has raised $20 million in assets from Thiel and others including Palantir Technologies co-founder Jon Lonsdale, and intends to combat what Ramaswamy called an “ideological cartel” in Wall Street during an interview with The Wall Street Journal. (RELATED: ‘We Put A Price On Woke Capital’: Christopher Rufo Explains Game Plan For Fighting Radical Corporations)
My new firm @StriveFunds is ready to lead American companies to do what most Americans want them to do: focus on excellence over politics.
Looking forward to joining @SquawkCNBC with @JoeSquawk, @andrewrsorkin, and @BeckyQuick at 7:30am.
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 10, 2022
Strive aims to promote political neutrality on hot-button social issues and push companies to “focus exclusively on delivering excellent products and services to their customers,” arguing that BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street’s political activism has harmed shareholders. The firm seeks to “compete directly with the world’s largest asset managers by creating investment funds that advocate for the pursuit of excellence over politics in boardrooms across corporate America,” according to its website.
We’re on a mission to depoliticize #corporateamerica by promoting #excellencecapitalism over #stakeholdercapitalism. More on our vision in an exclusive interview with Co-Founder @VivekGRamaswamy in @wsj @CGrantWSJ @lizhoffmanhttps://t.co/ETlgeMSTHr
— Strive (@StriveFunds) May 10, 2022
“We want iconic American brands like Disney, Coca-Cola and Exxon, and U.S. tech giants like Twitter, Facebook, Amazon and Google to deliver high-quality products that improve our lives, not controversial political ideologies that divide us,” said Ramaswany, author of the book “Woke, Inc.,” an exploration of how corporations began advocating for progressive causes.
This article has been updated to reflect that Strive is an investment firm, not a fund.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.