With reports of its demise greatly exaggerated, Strive's RIA spins out as 'Thryve' --minus Vivek Ramaswamy and capital from JD Vance and Peter Thiel -- in a 'clean break' with a more apolitical vibe

Strive Asset Management's RIA is back – cheekily re-named Thryve – but largely purged of political overtones, and without former high-profile owner Vivek Ramaswamy.

The Dallas start-up RIA is now off the extinction list, two weeks after a shareholder letter revealed Strive planned to offload or shutter its RIA after spending millions to launch it. See: Strive invested $4 million to start up RIA in 2024 but may pull plug this year.

The former presidential candidate, Trump supporter and entrepreneur has decided to go all in on cryptocurrency and his Ohio gubernatorial campaign. 

The break severs all ties with the billionaire founder and with Strive's ‘anti-ESG’ ETFs and Bitcoin treasury start-up, says former Strive president and now Thryve CEO Gary Dorfman, in an email exchange. See: See: Vivek Ramaswamy $30-million venture launches wealth RIA --- just ahead of the election -- and dumps Columbus, Ohio for 'economic advantages' of Dallas

Thryve has also broken free from its parent's highly political venture capital backers, including Vice President JD Vance and Peter Thiel, the PayPal and Palantir co-founder and right-wing financial backer. See: JD Vance joins MAGA backers, including mentor Peter Thiel, to raise $30 million for Vivek Ramaswamy's RIA rollup startup.

“All the operating capital comes from Thryve's founders … [and] asset management stays with Strive,” says a Thryve spokesperson, in an email.

“We wanted a clean break from Strive,” says Dorfman. “Full independence and autonomy was our goal.”

Roll-up revival

With $270 million of assets under management, Thryve has now emerged from under its overtly political parent with a new, less political management team composed of seven former Strive staff and executives.

Thryve also used its ‘relaunch’ announcement to relaunch the roll-up strategy that its former parent first floated as a key part of the RIA's strategy in July a year ago.

It will both acquire RIAs, and work to recruit brokers and other advisors, according to the firm.

“Advisors will join Thryve as partners, becoming part of a purpose-driven team focused on the belief that the true measure of success is our clients’ success," says Chief Growth Officer Laura Brady, who spent three years at Strive, most recently in a business development role.

“Unlike private equity roll-up strategies that prioritize AUM growth, we are motivated by long-term value creation for the families we serve,” she explains in a linked release.

To execute those capital intensive M&A ambitions, Thryve has already begun lining up financial backers, says Dorfman, a former partner of roll-up Beacon Pointe, with $40 billion of managed assets. 

“We have several interested capital partners, and we are evaluating the best strategic fit,” the Santa Barbara, Calif., executive says.

“Our current plans are to make selective acquisitions using a variety of capital sources and structures.”

Dorfman and Brady will also lead the firm’s M&A and advisor recruiting for the time being, according to the firm.

No dodos here

As recently as Sept. 19, Thryve, under its previous guise as Strive Wealth, looked to be in trouble.

AssetEntities, a Nasdaq-listed corporation that Strive recently acquired through a reverse merger, sent a 440-page letter to shareholders revealing that  Strive would likely “dispose of or wind-down the Strive Wealth Business." 

The move hinged on whether the reverse merger to take Strive public failed. 

“The company plans to divest of the wealth management business, which represented a de-minimis portion of the company’s operations during the year ended Dec. 31, 2024,” the letter stated. See: Vivek Ramaswamy jumps on the next new thing, a Bitcoin treasury company.

De Minimis means “too trivial or minor to merit consideration, especially in law.” according to the references.

Yet the letter's legal language belied both Thryve's strength as a going concern, and its new management teams commitment, Dorfman explains.

“While we understand that some of the regulatory language could be misinterpreted, no one wanted to dispose of the wealth management business," he says.

“We believe we came to the best solution for all …We agreed clients would be best served with an independent, stand-alone RIA.”

'American Exceptionalism'

Thryve's determination to stand apart from its politically charged former owner, doesn't mean it's abandoning conservative politics. 

It's adopted the slogan “American Exceptionalism,” which the firm describes as a “core pillar,” of how it will differentiate itself from competitors. 

Dorfman says the term is not intended to be political.

“In our view, American exceptionalism has nothing to do with politics,” he says. 

“Our investment approach is firmly rooted in U.S. markets where we believe innovation, governance, and resilience give long-term investors a structural edge, [and] the returns over the last decade certainly support this thesis," he says. 

For instance, “the S&P 500 [index] has outperformed the EAFE index [an MSCI index tracking large- and mid-cap firms in developed markets excluding the US and Canada] by roughly 8% annually through 2024,” he continues.

Asked if Thryve will favor recruiting advisors keen on “American Exceptionalism,” Dorfman demured.

“We plan to add Advisors who share our commitment to fiduciary values. At Thryve, everyone recognizes that our success is only measured by our client’s success," he said.

* Strive's 401(k) and ETF units will remain part of the 2022-founded firm, following the spin-off of Thryve.