Disillusioned with politics, Ramaphosa left to make his millions, becoming one of Africa’s richest men in the process, before returning to politics as deputy president of the ANC in 2012.
Two years later he became the deputy President of South Africa, before assuming the leadership on Thursday.
As Ramaphosa was sworn in, police issued an arrest warrant for Ajay Gupta, part of the powerful Gupta family who are at the heart of allegations against Zuma.
South African authorities said eight people have been arrested after they Gupta home was raided on Wednesday, and they are seeking another five suspects.
Zuma is accused of offering the Gupta family government contracts in return for favourable coverage in their news networks. Both parties deny this.
Ramaphosa said issues of corruption and state ownership were ‘on my radar’ ahead of his swearing in.
In an address to the parliament in Cape Town, Ramaphosa said he was ‘humbled’ by the honor and called for all parties to work together to serve their people.
‘South Africa must come first in everything we do,’ he said.
Cheers and dancing broke out in parliament as the speaker earlier announced she had received a copy of Zuma’s resignation letter ahead of the vote.

The new president also promises to tackle issues of mounting corruption and state ownership, after the scandals that dogged his predecessor

As Ramaphosa was voted in, the South African rand surged to a near two-and-a-half year high while the stock market was on course for its best day in three years.
Zuma with announced his resignation on Wednesday night, pointing out that while he disagreed with the decision, he would abide by the will of his party and its members.
Ramaphosa was the only candidate nominated for election in the parliament after two opposition parties said they would not participate.
The opposition parties instead unsuccessfully called for the dissolution of the National Assembly and early elections. A national ballot is scheduled for 2019.
The ruling African National Congress ‘couldn’t have got a better person to lead the country out of crisis’, said William Gumede, professor at the school of governance at the University of the Witswatersrand.
‘What’s exciting about Ramaphosa is that he is a proven strategic thinker and actor,’ Mr Gumede said.
‘As the leader of the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1980s, as the ANC’s negotiator to end apartheid, as the chairman of the assembly writing the constitution, Ramaphosa has negotiated very difficult, complex problems and he has delivered solutions.’

Addressing the nation ahead of his swearing-in, Ramaphosa said announced that he will be ‘walking a tightrope, balancing the competing priorities of holding his party together while avoiding economic disaster’.
Ramaphosa with a trademark relaxed and low-key image at public appearances, has managed to steer clear of major corruption scandals but his return to politics has not been free from controversy. He has promoted himself as a reformer, despite being a key part of Zuma’s administration, and has promised to steer South Africa away from corruption scandals which have blighted it in the past.
South Africa’s iconic political leader Nelson Mandela once described Ramaphosa as one of the most gifted leaders of the ‘new generation’, the young campaigners who rose in the 1970s, filling the void left by their jailed elders.
However after he failed to clinch the ANC nomination to succeed president Nelson Mandela in 1999, the veteran of the anti-apartheid movement left politics for business becoming one of the wealthiest people in Africa.  Stakes in McDonald’s and Coca-Cola and other sectors that required investors to partner with non-white shareholders, created a fortune estimated at over $450 million (383 million euros), reaching number 42 on Forbes list of Africa’s wealthiest people in 2015.
He current return to politics began in 2012 when he was elected to the ANC’s number-two post. He became deputy president of the nation in 2014, but had to tread a pragmatic line, serving a corruption mired Zuma administration, while delivering the occasional, cautious criticism of his boss.
Ramaphosa based his campaign on his pledge to rebuild the country’s economy, boost growth and create much-needed jobs, while fighting the corruption that turned some supporters against the ANC during the months of growing public anger over the scandals surrounding Zuma.
When he who assumed leadership of the ANC in December after narrowly defeating Zuma’s ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, he quickly spoke out against the corruption that had weakened the ANC.

Former president Jacob Zuma, after nine years in power , had been under increasing pressure to hand power over to Cyril Ramaphosa because he faces around 800 corruption allegations