Golf Legend Jack Nicklaus has won a $50 million lawsuit against his own company after he accused executives of leaking defamatory accusations that he was making a $750 million deal with LIV Golf and that he had dementia.
Nicklaus, who stepped down from his executive role in the Nicklaus Companies in 2017 after folding his Golden Bear International into the larger organization in 2007 in a $45 million deal, alleged that two executives had tried to damage his reputation and name, the New York Post reported.
Along with accusing the company itself of defamation, the golf legend also individually named billionaire banker Howard Milstein, the executive chairman of Nicklaus Companies, and executive Andrew O’Brien in the suit. However, the jury did not hold the two men accountable even as they agreed that the company itself tried to defame Nicklaus. Consequently, the two top execs were not forced to pay any extra compensation.
“It’s always hard in a defamation case to prove damages to reputation, because, in particular, for a guy like Jack, it’s always such a good one,” said Nicklaus’s attorney, Eugene Stearns. “But I think what was important was the dispute that arose 3½ years ago when the company told the world that Jack was selling out the PGA Tour for the Saudi golf, when it was not true. So, we’re happy that Jack’s been vindicated.”
Stearns argued that the company sought to harm Nicklaus’s reputation after the golf legend attempted to regain control of his image and name in 2022. Company executives tried to convince people that Nicklaus was selling out to the Saudis and even had mental issues.
“The story is a lie. … What they wanted to create in the minds of the public is that Jack Nicklaus is an old guy who sold out to the Saudis,” Stearns argued in court.
Nicklaus admitted that LIV tried to offer him a role in the growing Saudi-backed league, but he turned them down.
“According to Nicklaus, he had no interest in the offer and declined because he felt the PGA Tour was an important part of his legacy, and if the PGA was not in favor of a new league, he did not want to be involved,” Stearns said about the LIV offer.
Ultimately, the jury ruled that Nicklaus Companies actively tried to push the two major false claims against Jack to expose him to “ridicule, hatred, mistrust, distrust or contempt.”
Nicklaus also won his suit in 2024 to regain control of his own image, history, and likeness, while Nicklaus Companies could retain the right to sell merchandise and use the “Golden Bear” nickname.
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