What is Rick Scott's Net Worth and Salary?
Rick Scott is an American Republican politician and businessman who has a net worth of $300 million. Rick Scott is best known for serving as a United States senator from Florida. His net worth makes him one of the richest politicians in America. According to his most recent financial disclosure, Rick Scott estimated his net worth to range between $166 and $355 million. As we detail later in this article, Rick earned his fortune in the healthcare industry as the former CEO of a healthcare company called Columbia/HCA. The company ultimately pleaded guilty to 14 felonies for conducting a massive Medicare fraud and was forced to pay a $1.7 billion fine.
As a US senator, Scott participated in the Republican attempts to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Before becoming a Senator, Rick Scott served as the governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. He made his fortune as the CEO of the for-profit health care company HCA which ran into a number of legal problems that we'll describe in greater detail later in this article.
Early Life and Education
Rick Scott was born as Richard Lynn Myers on December 1, 1952 in Bloomington, Illinois to Gordon and Esther. He never met his father, an abusive alcoholic who divorced his mother when Scott was still a baby. His mother soon got remarried to a truck driver named Orba, whose surname Scott adopted. The family eventually moved to North Kansas City, Missouri, where Scott attended North Kansas City High School. After graduating, he enlisted in the US Navy, serving for two-and-a-half years as a radarman on the USS Glover. Following his service, he went to the University of Missouri – Kansas City on the G.I. Bill, graduating with a BS in business administration. Scott went on to obtain a JD from Southern Methodist University.
Career Beginnings
Beginning his career in business, Scott purchased and revived a donut shop called the Flavor Maid Do-Nut. After his graduation from law school at SMU, he became an attorney at the Dallas firm Johnson & Swanson.
Columbia Hospital Corporation and HCA
In 1988, Scott and financier Richard Rainwater founded the health care company Columbia Hospital Corporation. The pair expanded the company substantially over the subsequent years by purchasing stock in Basic American Medical and Galen Healthcare, in the process acquiring over 100 hospitals. In 1994, Columbia Hospital Corporation merged with the Hospital Corporation of America, creating the largest for-profit health care company in the United States. Scott became the CEO of the new company.
In early 1997, investigators from the FBI, IRS, and Department of Health and Human Services raided many of Columbia/HCA's facilities. The company was found to have defrauded Medicare, Medicaid, and a number of other federal programs. Columbia/HCA reportedly routinely offered kickbacks to doctors to refer patients to its system and then also reportedly inflated patient sickness to boost the amount of money paid by Medicare.
As a result, Scott was pressured to resign from his position as CEO. He ended up pleading the Fifth Amendment a total of 75 times in his deposition in 2000. Meanwhile, Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty to 14 felonies and was ordered to pay $1.7 billion in fines.
Earnings and Payout
When Rick Scott left Columbia/HCA, we took with him $300 million in company stock. He was also paid a $5.1 million severance and a 5-year consulting deal that paid him $950,000 per year.
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Other Companies and Organizations
Following his departure from Columbia/HCA, Scott established the holding company Richard L. Scott Investments, which has stakes in the health care, technology, and manufacturing sectors. Subsequently, he co-founded the urgent care health care provider Solantic with former television anchor Karen Bowling. The company operates numerous centers in Florida. Scott later co-founded the health care information service Alijor.com with his daughter Allison. Among his other endeavors, he founded the health care pressure group Conservatives for Patients' Rights in 2009.
Florida Governor
In 2010, Scott entered the political arena as a candidate for the Republican nomination for Florida governor, campaigning as part of the extremist Tea Party movement. He went on to narrowly win the general election against Democrat Alex Sink. In 2014, Scott was reelected. During his tenure, he led Florida through the crisis of Hurricane Irma, organizing the largest mass evacuation in United States history. He also oversaw declining unemployment and crime rates. However, Scott made many countervailing efforts to set the state back, including cutting funding for water management districts and reducing oversight at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Additionally, he oversaw a record number of prison inmate executions in the state, and worked to restrict voting rights.
US Senator
With his second term as Florida governor coming to an end, Scott announced his candidacy for the US Senate in 2018. After beating Rocky De La Fuente in the Republican primary, he defeated Democrat Bill Nelson in the general election by a mere 10,033 votes. Following the race, Scott's Super PAC was widely criticized for allegedly violating federal election law, as its finances were chaired by hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, who personally donated millions of dollars to the PAC.
Scott incurred more backlash in early 2021 when he participated in the GOP's attempts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election by voting to refuse the seating of Pennsylvania electors. He also voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the attempted insurrection of the US Capitol on January 6.
Investment Controversies
Scott has attracted a great deal of controversy for some of his investment decisions. In 2017, he and his wife held stocks in companies that allegedly did business with Venezuela's Maduro regime and Russia's Putin regime. Earlier, Scott had publicly denounced Maduro and lambasted companies that had business ties with Venezuela. More hypocrisy came to light in 2018 when Scott and his wife invested in the development of a high-speed rail between Orlando and Tampa, Florida, something he had vehemently rejected during his tenure as governor.
Personal Life
At the age of 19 in 1972, Scott wed his high school sweetheart Frances Holland. Together, they have two daughters, and reside in Naples, Florida.
