He bought the patent for cheap and sold other people on the vision. He ended up cashing out with nearly $40 million.
When the drug failed clinical trials a second time, the stock collapsed by about 75% in a single day.
Some public investors, including pension funds, were left eating that loss.
But Ramaswami was more insulated from that fallout because most of his investment was not in Axovant, the main company.
It was in his related company called Royant.
Today, Vivec's net worth is $2.4 billion. And that's the real pattern.
The product doesn't really need to succeed.
The story just needs to hold long enough for the right people to get rich before reality sets in.