Report: McWhorter to be Tennessee’s next finance commissioner

By Meg Garner  – Reporter, Nashville Business Journal

Nov 26, 2018, 2:35pm

One of Nashville’s most recognizable business leaders is on deck to manage the state’s finances under soon-to-be Gov. Bill Lee.

Lee has tapped Stuart McWhorter, chairman of Clayton Associates, to be the state’s next finance commissioner, according to The Tennessee Journal, citing a “a source close to the Lee transition team.” The Journal reports an announcement is expected later this week.

McWhorter previously served as finance chairman of the governor-elect’s campaign and is currently the chairman of Lee’s inauguration planning efforts, according to Lee’s website.

McWhorter gained notoriety and expanded his connections when he briefly took the helm as CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center in 2015. But it’s his work with venture capital firm Clayton Associates, where he returned after just a year at the EC, that has made him a prominent voice in Nashville’s business scene.

McWhorter took the reins at the firm after his father died in 2016. The late Clayton McWhorter was the founder, chairman and CEO of HealthTrust Inc. and chairman of HCA Healthcare (then called Hospital Corporation of America) in the 1990s. The younger McWhorter is now a key investor in the city’s health care and tech scenes, drawing on his family name to drive innovation in Nashville’s powerhouse industry.

He also serves on the board of directors of eight companies, including the Lee Co., Nashville-based FirstBank and MedEquities Realty Trust.