Rick Scott (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. Senate from Florida. He assumed office on January 3, 2019. His current term ends on January 3, 2031.
Scott (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate to represent Florida. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
In May 2024, Scott announced he was running to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) as leader. He was defeated by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in the November 13, 2024, leadership election.
Scott was born in Bloomington, Illinois. He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri.
After high school, Scott spent one year in community college before joining the U.S. Navy. He served for over two years, with much of that time spent aboard the U.S.S.
Glover as a radar technician. Upon leaving the Navy, Scott attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City and went on to law school at Southern Methodist University.
He began his business career while in college, purchasing two doughnut shops. After law school he joined Johnson & Swanson in Dallas, Texas; at the time, the firm was the largest in the city.
Read moreWhile a partner at Johnson & Swanson in 1987, Scott formed HCA Acquisition Company specifically to acquire Hospital Corporation of America and secured funding conditional on completing the acquisition. The initial offer was declined by HCA and ultimately withdrawn.
The next year, he formed Columbia Hospital Corporation and acquired several Dallas area hospitals. Beginning in 1992, Scott and his partners bought one hospital per year for four years, including Hospital Corporation of America.
By 1997, Columbia/HCA was the largest healthcare provider in the world, with annual revenues exceeding $23 billion. While Scott was CEO of Columbia/HCA, a federal investigation was launched, and the company ultimately paid $1.7 billion in fines.
As part of the settlement, Scott resigned from the company in 1997. He said that he was unaware of the fraud and that he was never indicted or questioned in the case.
Scott then moved to Naples, Florida, and founded Richard L. Scott Investments. Starting in 1998, the firm acquired numerous companies.
