Rick Scott

Richard Lynn Scott (né Myers; born December 1, 1952) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and Navy veteran serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served two terms as the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019.

Scott is a graduate of the University of Missouri–Kansas City and the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University. In 1987, after serving in the U.S. Navy and becoming a law firm partner, he co-founded Columbia Hospital Corporation. Columbia later merged with another corporation to form Columbia/HCA, which eventually became the nation's largest for-profit health care company. Scott was pressured to resign as chief executive of Columbia/HCA in 1997. During his tenure as chief executive, the company defrauded Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs. The U.S. Department of Justice won 14 felony convictions against the company, which was fined $1.7 billion in what was at the time the largest healthcare fraud settlement in U.S. history. Following his departure from Columbia/HCA, Scott became a venture capitalist and pursued other business interests.

Scott ran for governor of Florida in 2010. He defeated Bill McCollum in a vigorously contested Republican primary election, and then defeated Democratic nominee Alex Sink by just over one point in the general election. Scott was reelected in 2014, again by just over one point, against former governor Charlie Crist. He was barred by term limits from running for reelection in 2018, and instead ran for the U.S. Senate.

Scott won the 2018 U.S. Senate election, defeating incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. The initial election results were so close that they triggered a mandatory recount. The recount showed that Scott had won by 10,033 votes; Nelson then conceded the race. Scott took office following the expiration of his term as governor of Florida on January 8, 2019. He won reelection in 2024, defeating Democratic nominee Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by over 12 points. Marco Rubio's resignation to become Secretary of State in the second cabinet of Donald Trump made Scott Florida's senior senator.

Rick Scott was born Richard Lynn Myers in Bloomington, Illinois, on December 1, 1952. Scott never met his biological father, Gordon William Myers, whom Scott's mother, Esther J. Scott, described as an abusive alcoholic. Scott's parents divorced in his infancy.

In 1954, Esther married Orba George Scott Jr. (died 2006), a truck driver. Orba adopted Rick, who took his stepfather's surname and became known as Richard Lynn Scott. Scott was raised in North Kansas City, Missouri, the second of five children. His family was lower-middle-class and struggled financially; Esther Scott worked as a clerk at J. C. Penney, among other jobs.

Scott graduated from North Kansas City High School in 1970. He attended community college for a year, and then enlisted in the United States Navy. In 1972, he married Ann Holland, whom he met in high school, at a Baptist church in Kansas City. Scott had completed naval bootcamp just before the wedding. Afterward, he was sent to a naval posting in Newport, Rhode Island, where he and his wife lived for 15 months. He served there as a radarman on the USS Glover (FF-1098), which during his enlistment spent time dry docked in Boston and sailed to ports in Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Scott was in the Navy for 29 months, including training.

After the Navy, Scott and his wife moved to Kansas City, where he attended college on the G.I. Bill. He graduated in 1975 from the University of Missouri–Kansas City with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He earned a Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University. The Texas Bar licensed him to practice law in 1978.