Rick Scott
Richard "Rick" Lynn Scott (born December 1, 1952) is an American businessman and politician who has been the 45th Governor of Florida since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Born in Bloomington, Illinois, Scott is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Kansas City, later receiving his law degree from Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law. He served in the United States Navy before starting his business career, joining the Dallas firm Johnson & Swanson, where he became partner. In 1987, at age 34, he co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation with two business partners; this merged with Hospital Corporation of America in 1989 to form Columbia/HCA and eventually became the largest private for-profit health care company in the U.S.[citation needed] He resigned as Chief Executive of Columbia/HCA in 1997 amid a controversy over the company's business and Medicare billing practices; the company ultimately admitted to fourteen felonies and agreed to pay the federal government over $600 million, which was the largest fraud settlement in US history. Scott was not implicated and no charges were raised against him personally. Scott later became a venture capitalist. Scott announced his intention to run for Governor of Florida in 2010. He defeated Bill McCollum in the Republican primary election and defeated Democratic nominee Alex Sink in a close race in the general election, spending roughly $75 million of his own money in the process. In 2014 he won re-election against former Republican turned Democrat Charlie Crist. Scott's net worth was estimated at $218.6 million in 2010, $83.8 million in 2012, and $132.7 million in 2013.