Golf legend Jack Nicklaus wins $50M verdict in defamation lawsuit
against former business partners
[October 22, 2025]
By DAVID FISCHER
MIAMI (AP) — Professional golf legend Jack Nicklaus has won a
$50 million verdict in a defamation lawsuit filed in Florida
against his former business partners.
A six-person jury in Palm Beach County found Monday that the
Nicklaus Companies had damaged the 18-time major champion’s
reputation and exposed him to ridicule, hatred, mistrust,
distrust or contempt. Nicklaus Companies owner and executive
chairman Howard Milstein and executive Andrew O'Brien were also
named individually as defendants, but jurors did not find them
personally liable. |
Jack Nicklaus waves before hitting the first tee for the honorary tee
off before the first round of the Masters golf tournament, April 9,
2015, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) |
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Eugene Stearns, an attorney for Nicklaus, said Nicklaus has
spent his life helping others and earning a reputation as not
just a great athlete but a great human being.
“He deserved better than what he got, and we’re pleased that the
jury addressed the particular circumstances that were so
annoying,” Stearns said.
According to the lawsuit, Nicklaus, 85, claimed Milstein,
O’Brien and others at the company spread false stories that
Nicklaus considered a $750 million deal to join the Saudi
Arabia-backed LIV Golf League and that he was suffering from
dementia and no longer mentally fit to manage his affairs.
Defense attorneys said at trial that Nicklaus Companies
executives never tried to defame Nicklaus and argued the case
was basically a business dispute. They said no harm was done to
Nicklaus' reputation, and there was no reason for a company that
shared the golfer's name to attack him.
Attorneys for Nicklaus Companies didn't immediately respond to
emails seeking comment Tuesday evening.
Earlier this year, a New York judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by
Nicklaus Companies against Nicklaus that attempted to prevent
the golfer from using his name, image and likeness to promote
his golf course design business.
Nicklaus joined Nicklaus Companies in 2007 as part of a $145
million deal, but Nicklaus eventually quit and planned to
continue designing golf courses on his own. While Nicklaus is
once again free to design golf courses under his own name,
Nicklaus Companies retains the rights to sell clothing and
equipment with “Jack Nicklaus” logos.
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