Thomas Fearn Frist Jr. (born August 12, 1938) is an American
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...
physician and businessman.Forbes /ref> He is a co-founder of HCA Healthcare, and is the wealthiest person in
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
.Hospital Corporation of America press release /ref>BusinessWeek biography /ref> ''
BusinessWeek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...
''Avondale Partners biography avondalepartnersllc.com; accessed September 6, 2015.
Early life
Thomas F. Frist Jr. was born on August 12, 1938, to Thomas F. Frist Sr., a prominent internal medicine specialist in Nashville, and Dorothy Cate. Frist has four siblings: physician and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist
William Harrison Frist (born February 22, 1952) is an American physician, businessman, conservationist and policymaker who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as ...
; Dr. Robert A. Frist; Dorothy F. Boensch; and Mary F. Barfield.
Frist grew up in Belle Meade, a western suburb of
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. He attended Montgomery Bell Academy, a Nashville prep school for boys. In 1956, Frist played
quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
for
MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
and received an MD from
Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Medicine) is the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis, located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1891, the School of Medicine shares a ca ...
. He was a member of the Vanderbilt chapter of
Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded in 1848, and currently headquartered, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, alo ...
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
.
Business career
In 1968, he co-founded the
Hospital Corporation of America
HCA Healthcare, Inc. (historically known as Hospital Corporation of America) is an American for-profit operator of health care facilities that was founded in 1968. It is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and, as of May 2020, owned and operated 186 ...
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'', March 4, 2011.
In 1977, he became president of HCA and, in 1987, chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO). He served as chairman in 1994, after the merger with Columbia, and after the merger with HealthTrust Inc. in April 1995, as vice chairman. He returned as chairman and CEO of the company in 1997 after the resignation of
Rick Scott
Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers; born December 1, 1952) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and United States Navy, Navy veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of F ...
, who later became
Governor of Florida
The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Government of Florida#Executive branch, executive branch of the government of Florida and is the comman ...
.
He was chairman and CEO until January 2001 and chairman until January 2002. In 2006, he accepted $21 billion in
private equity
Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
investments from
Bain Capital
Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...
,
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...
and
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...
and took HCA private. The deal valued HCA at $33 billion.David Benoit Schulze Looks to Join Kinder, Hefner in Founder Buyouts ''The Wall Street Journal'', August 6, 2012 He holds the record for the biggest leveraged buyout of all time and biggest private equity–led IPO of all time. In 2009, he stepped down from the board of directors, and his son, Billy Frist, joined the board. Frist was replaced as chairman by Jack Bovender.
From 1984 to 1995, he was on the board of directors of
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
. He was the chair of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce from 1999 to 2000. He is a member of
The Business Council
The Business Council is a nonpartisan organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C. In 2008, he co-founded the China Healthcare Corporation with Charles A. Elcan.E. Thomas Woo China Healthcare gives details of first hospital '' Nashville Post'', August 24, 2008E. Thomas Wood Opening the floodgates? ''Nashville Post'', July 27, 2008 They have business interests in Cixi, China. He is president of Okeechobee Hospital Inc. and Galen Of Florida Inc.
Frist is president of Tomco II LLC, an aircraft company."Aircraft owned by Tommy Frist in fatal crash" ''Nashville Post'', July 20, 2006. In 2000, Scott Mercy, chairman and CEO of LifePoint Hospitals Inc. and chairman of America Service Group Inc., died in a crash.David A. Fox Health-care exec Scott Mercy dies in plane crash ''Nashville Post'', May 31, 2000. Similarly, in 2006, another aircraft belonging to Frist crashed.
Philanthropy
He was inducted into the Healthcare Hall of Fame. He served as vice president of the Vanderbilt University board of trust from 1995 to 1997. He is a recipient of the distinguished graduates award of Vanderbilt University. He is chairman of the Frist Foundation and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. He is a member of the
Nashville Public Library
Nashville Public Library (NPL) is the public library system serving Nashville, Tennessee and the metropolitan area of Davidson County. In 2010, the Nashville Public Library was the recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. ...
Foundation.
He was a co-founder of the United Way Alexis de Tocqueville Society.United Way of America He also served as chair of the board of governors for
United Way of America
United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual United Ways mobilize a sin ...
. The ''Dr. Thomas F. Frist Jr. Excellence in Volunteer Leadership Award'' of the United Way was established in 1996. In 2012, he received the United Way Lifetime Achievement Award.Frist Gets United Way Lifetime Achievement Award , '' NewsChannel 5'', May 3, 2012. In October 2020, Nashville's
Belmont University
Belmont University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporate ...
announced the creation of a new medical school to be named the Thomas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine, being established in partnership with HCA's clinical facilities branded as TriStar Health.
Personal life
Frist was married to Patricia C. Frist from 1961 until her death in 2021, and he has three children. They reside in an $18-million house in
Belle Meade, Tennessee
Belle Meade is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee. Its total land area is , and its population was 2,901 at the time of the 2020 census.
Belle Meade operates independently as a city, complete with its own regulations, a city hall, and police ...
. They have two sons and a daughter, who is married to investor Charles A. Elcan.
He is the wealthiest person in
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
and #35 on the
Forbes 400
The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is ...
, with an estimated wealth of $20 billion.
As per Forbes list of The Richest People In The World, dated 8 MARCH 2024, Thomas F. Frist Jr. ranked #73 with a net worth of $26.2 Billion.
Awards and honors
*Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...
(1984)
*Vanderbilt's Distinguished Alumni Award (2002)
*Healthcare Hall of Fame (2003)
*United Way Lifetime Achievement Award (2012)