• Rachel Paulose had been general counsel, compliance chief
• Her departure comes after some ex-employees sued Strive

Strive Asset Management, an investment firm co-founded by Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, has shuffled its legal and compliance leadership as it faces lawsuits from two former employees.

Rachel Paulose, Strive’s general counsel and chief compliance officer, is no longer serving in those positions, the company confirmed in a statement. Paulose will continue to do consulting work for the firm, according to Strive.

The company is “interviewing final candidates” for a new legal chief who “will work with its strong legal and compliance team,” Strive said.

Paulose didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Robert Roach Jr. is now serving as Strive’s compliance chief, according to an Aug. 23 securities filing by the firm. Paulose had previously been listed on Strive’s website and in other securities filings as its top legal and compliance executive.

Ramaswamy, who made his fortune in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, and Anson Frericks started Strive last year. The company has appealed to conservatives by sounding an anti-ESG call to take politics out of the C-suite. Strive said in June it had more than $750 million in assets under management.

Strive, which also has a proxy advisory arm, said Ramaswamy has stepped down as its executive chairman and no longer has an active role in the firm.

Two former Strive employees are suing the firm and Ramaswamy for allegedly misrepresenting its financial health, Bloomberg News reported. They accuse Ramaswamy and Frericks of mistreating staff and pushing employees to violate securities law. Strive has vowed to “vigorously defend itself” in the lawsuits.

One of those cases, filed earlier this month in a New Jersey state court, claims that Ramaswamy continued to have a hand in Strive-related matters after launching his bid for the US presidency in February. That case, filed by former co-head of international sales and distribution Joyce Rosely, claims that Strive laid off employees as part of a reorganization earlier this year.

Strive touted its hire of Rosely and Paulose in the same August 2022 press release, pledging that the Dublin, Ohio-based firm’s commitment to “refocus corporate America on excellence over politics.”

Strive said that Paulose’s recent job change “was irrespective of previous staff reductions.” Paulose is a former litigation partner at DLA Piper in Minneapolis who also once served as a top federal prosecutor in Minnesota.