Jack Nicklaus wins $50 million defamation lawsuit over LIV Golf and dementia claims
Jack Nicklaus, the 18‑time major champion, won a landslide verdict last Monday that awarded him $50 million in a defamation lawsuit against his former employer, Nicklaus Companies.
The Palm Beach County jury said the company and two executives had ruined the golfer’s reputation by spreading false claims, including rumors that Nicklaus was about to sign a $750 million deal with the Saudi‑backed LIV Golf circuit and that he had dementia.
The case stemmed from a 2023 lawsuit Nicklaus filed after the company released a statement in New York accusing him of selling out to the Saudi‑financed tour. Those claims sparked a media firestorm and later turned into a formal dispute. The jury concluded that the rumors caused “ridicule, hatred, mistrust, and contempt” for the legendary player and that they constituted libel.
Nicklaus’ lawyer, Eugene Stearns, told a local reporter that proving damage to a man’s reputation is hard when everyone already knows him as a legend. “It was clear the company planted a story that the public should believe, and the story was a lie,” he said. “They wanted people to see Jack as an old man who sold out.”
Both Howard Milstein, the ex‑chairman of Nicklaus Companies, and Andrew O’Brien, an executive, were named in the civil suit. The jury ruled in favor of the two executives, so they owe no extra damages.
The lawsuit added new dynamics to a long‑running saga. Nicklaus left his executive role in 2017, triggering a five‑year non‑compete that barred him from promoting products outside the company or designing golf courses.
In 2022 he sought arbitration to get the right to use his name, image and likeness again, but the company sued him for breach of that agreement. That suit included the same lingering LIV Golf allegations.
You can see the courtroom drama in the photo captured by Reuters, showing the 85‑year‑old mounting a gesture of celebration after the verdict was announced. The punch‑line: a pound‑for-pound legal victory that re‑affirms the legend’s legacy and places a hefty price on false accusations.
Source: New York Post
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