Jack Nicklaus has been awarded a $50 million judgment in a defamation lawsuit against his former company after a Palm Beach County, Florida, jury determined the backers of the company spread malicious rumors about the 18-time major champion.
Nicklaus filed suit against the Nicklaus Companies, which, in 2007, sold exclusive rights to his golf course design services along with all marketing, promotional and branding rights to Howard Milstein, chairman of 8AM Golf, for $145 million. Nicklaus' suit was a countersuit in response to prior litigation that was dismissed earlier this year by a Manhattan trial judge.
In that New York suit, the Nicklaus Companies sought to restrict Nicklaus from using his own name to promote his golf-course design ventures and other business endeavours. In the course of that suit, the Nicklaus Companies had falsely suggested that Nicklaus had held discussions about joining LIV Golf, which triggered this new lawsuit.
In the countersuit, Nicklaus alleged the Nicklaus Companies, from which Nicklaus resigned in 2017, falsely insinuated that the legendary golfer had strongly considered a $750 million offer from LIV Golf to be the public face of the Saudi Arabian-owned breakaway league and disseminated that fabrications to media organizations.
However, Nicklaus' attorneys shared evidence that the Nicklaus Companies had actually arranged for a 2021 meeting between Nicklaus and Golf Saudi representatives to discuss designing a golf course in Saudi Arabia. In that meeting, Golf Saudi detailed their efforts to recruit him for a leadership position with LIV Golf. Nicklaus soundly declined the offer because, according to court filings, "he considered the PGA Tour an integral part of his legacy."
The filing concluded, "If the PGA (Tour) opposed a rival league, [Nicklaus] refused to participate."
Nicklaus also accused the defendants of suggesting he lacked the mental capacity to manage his business affairs and was experiencing dementia.
Nicklaus’ attorney Eugene Stearns said during closing arguments, according to the Palm Beach Post, that Nicklaus Companies executives “wanted to create (a story) in the minds of the public is, ‘Jack Nicklaus is an old guy who sold out to the Saudis.’"
After four-and-a-half hours of deliberations, the six-person jury found in favor of Nicklaus and that the Nicklaus Companies subjected him to “ridicule, hatred, mistrust, distrust or contempt.” However, the jury cleared Milstein and Nicklaus Companies executive Andrew O’Brien, who were also named defendants in the suit filed in June 2025, of personal liability in the two-week trial.
The legal dispute between Nicklaus and his name company began in 2022, after Nicklaus completed a five-year non-compete clause triggered by his 2017 resignation. In that period, Nicklaus was not allowed to design golf courses on his own, away from the Nicklaus Companies banner. Nicklaus resigned from the company board in May 2022, around the end of that non-compete provision.
Nicklaus Companies then sued Nicklaus and his GBI (Golden Bear International) Investors in New York, alleging tortious interference, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. The Nicklaus Companies argued that Nicklaus had systematically diverted business opportunities away from Nicklaus Companies and toward his own venture. The Nicklaus Company’s initial complaint included “examples” of purported misconduct, as well as claims that Nicklaus had “private[ly]” pursued a leadership role with LIV Golf and that the Nicklaus Companies had to “interven[e]” to “save Mr. Nicklaus from himself.” Those allegations were later removed from the complaint.
In July 2024, a Florida arbitrator ruled that Nicklaus was no longer bound by the non-compete clause and could design golf courses independently.
