Andrew Yang is set to pull out of the 2020 US presidential race.
The Democratic candidate is one of many jostling to represent the party and take on Donald Trump in the upcoming election.
Yang's exit was confirmed by a senior campaign official, The New York Times reported.
The 45-year-old has yet to confirm it himself, though he is expected to make an official announcement on Tuesday night (local time), the Times said.
He leaves Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, among many others, to contest the nomination.
Yang, who has no previous political experience, campaigned primarily on the idea of a universal basic income.
He proposed giving all US citizens over the age of 18 a guaranteed payment of US$1000 per month (NZ$1500) "no questions asked" as a type of social security.
His rationale for such a handout - which he called a "freedom dividend" - was that technology and automation is fast destroying many of the country's manufacturing jobs.
"As technology improves, workers will be able to stop doing the most dangerous, repetitive, and boring jobs," Yang's website says. "This should excite us, but if Americans have no source of income—no ability to pay for groceries, buy homes, save for education, or start families with confidence—then the future could be very dark."
His bowing-out comes after he failed to win any delegates in the recent Iowa caucus, where registered Democrats voted for their preferred candidate.
That caucus was won by Buttigieg, who in a controversial vote fraught with technological problems narrowly edged out Sanders.
Yang had invested heavily in campaigning in the state, according to The New York Times.
Following his disappointing performance, his campaign was said to have laid off dozens of staff members.
Twenty-nine candidates began the race for the Democratic nomination. With Yang's exit eleven remain.
The election is scheduled for November.
