Thomas Frist Jr.
 Frist in May 2010. Photo: Eagledj, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
| |
| Net worth | $41.1 billion (with family) Forbes 2026 list, March 24, 2026[1] |
|---|---|
| World rank | 48th (Forbes 2026)[1] |
| Source of wealth | Hospitals (HCA Healthcare) |
| Companies | HCA Healthcare (co-founder) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Born | August 12, 1938, Nashville, Tennessee, US |
| Education | Vanderbilt University (BA); Washington University School of Medicine (MD) |
| Known for | Co-founding HCA; richest person in Tennessee |
| Net worth figures are estimates by the source named and change every day. | |
Thomas Frist Jr. is an American physician and businessman who co-founded the hospital company HCA Healthcare; he is the richest person in Tennessee.[2] On the Forbes 2026 billionaires list, a snapshot taken on March 24, 2026, he and his family were 48th in the world with an estimated $41.1 billion.[1]
Net worth
- March 2024: $26.2 billion, 73rd on the Forbes list.[2]
- March 2026: $41.1 billion with family, 48th on the Forbes list.[1]
How the fortune was made
Frist grew up in Nashville, the son of the doctor Thomas F. Frist Sr.; his brother Bill Frist later became Majority Leader of the US Senate.[2] He graduated from Vanderbilt University and earned a medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine.[2] In 1968 he founded the Hospital Corporation of America with his father and Jack C. Massey.[2] He became its president in 1977 and its chairman and chief executive in 1987, and came back as chief executive in 1997 after Rick Scott resigned.[2] In 2006 he took HCA private with Bain Capital, KKR and Merrill Lynch in a deal that valued it at $33 billion, a record for a leveraged buyout.[2] He left HCA's board in 2009, and his son Billy joined it.[2] He was also on IBM's board from 1984 to 1995.[2]
Giving
He chairs the Frist Foundation and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, and co-founded the United Way's Alexis de Tocqueville Society.[2] In 2020 Belmont University announced a new medical school named after him.[2]
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Forbes, "Thomas Frist, Jr. & family", 2026 World's Billionaires list (snapshot of March 24, 2026), read November 3, 2026. Net worth is a Forbes estimate.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Wikipedia, "Thomas F. Frist Jr.", read November 3, 2026. Billionaire Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.