Jack Nicklaus was awarded $50 million by a Palm Beach County jury in Florida on Monday in a defamation lawsuit he filed against the Nicklaus Companies, but how did his business affairs get to that point?
Here are a few questions and answers about the Golden Bear’s legal issues over the past few years.
Q: Why did Jack Nicklaus sue himself?
A: He didn’t. He brought a suit against his former business partners that still operate a company that bears his name.
Q: Why did Nicklaus sue his former company?
A: The 18-time major champion believed the company spread false information to the media about his conversations with Golf Saudi and an opportunity to join forces with the LIV Golf League in 2022, before the then-invitational series launched. Nicklaus also claimed that the company executives insinuated that he was not mentally fit.
Q: What was the story behind Nicklaus’s talks with LIV Golf?
A: Nicklaus said that LIV executives reached out to him to gauge interest as to whether he would agree to be some sort of ambassador or figurehead for the league. Nicklaus told writer Michael Bamberger that he declined both verbally and in writing. At the 2022 Memorial Tournament, he answered a media question about the matter.
“We’ve had a contract on a golf course in Saudi Arabia for over a couple of years. Essentially the same group,” Nicklaus said. “So when they called Jackie—my son Jackie organized the meeting, and they came into the Bear’s Club. We met a couple of guys. John Rees and Paul Stringer from the Nicklaus Companies were there because we were doing the golf course, and they proposed this thing to me.
“You know, I did it out of courtesy to them because we’re doing a golf course for them. I’ve got zero interest in wanting to do something like that. I don’t care what kind of money they would have thrown at me. My allegiance has been to the PGA Tour. I grew up on the PGA Tour. I helped found the PGA Tour as it is today. My allegiance is there and it’s going to stay there.”
Q: Did the Nicklaus Companies originally sue Jack Nicklaus?
A: Yes. In 2022, the Nicklaus Companies sued the golfer for allegedly breaching agreements by exploring business deals outside of the company after his non-compete clause expired. Nicklaus was bound by a five-year non-compete agreement that began in 2017. He sought in 2022 via arbitration to be able to do work outside of the company. As part of the suit, the company accused Nicklaus of having secret talks with LIV Golf.
Q: How did one of the greatest golfers of all time get into this situation?
A: Nicklaus has had myriad and varied business interests over the years. In 2007, he joined forces with Howard Milstein, a New York real estate and banking magnate who invested $145 million in the company. According to a 2023 Golf Digest story, Nicklaus gave $20 million of the proceeds to each of his five children. Although Nicklaus retained control of the company, eventually it passed to Milstein due to various economic triggers in their deal and their relationship began to splinter, culminating in the lawsuits of the last few years.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Five Pressing Questions About Jack Nicklaus’s Legal Saga.