HCA goes back on the market. With market conditions too favorable to ignore, and previous backers wanting to liquidate their investments, Dr. Tommy Frist makes the lucrative decision to re-emerge publicly.
After less than three years in the private sector, the company hands backers a gain that is more than eightfold. When the company completes another leveraged buyout offer (LBO) in 2006, it will break the record for the largest LBO in Wall Street history.