MIAMI (AP) – Professional golf legend Jack Nicklaus has won a $50 million judgment in a Florida defamation lawsuit against his former business partner.
A six-person jury in Palm Beach County found Monday that Nicklaus Companies tarnished the 18-time major champion’s reputation and subjected him to ridicule, hatred, mistrust, mistrust and contempt. Nicklaus Companies owner and executive chairman Howard Milstein and executive director Andrew O’Brien were also named as defendants, but jurors did not find them personally liable.
Nicklaus’ attorney, Eugene Stearns, said Nicklaus has spent his life helping others and has earned a reputation not only as a great athlete, but as a great human being.
“He deserves more than what he got, and I’m glad the jury addressed the particular circumstances that were so troubling,” Stearns said.
According to the complaint, Nicklaus, 85, alleged that Milstein, O’Brien and other company officials spread false stories, including that Nicklaus was considering a $750 million deal to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League, that he had dementia and was no longer mentally able to manage his affairs.
The defense argued at trial that Nicklaus Company executives never tried to defame Nicklaus and that the case was essentially a business dispute. They said there was no damage to Nicklaus’ reputation and no reason for companies that share the golfer’s name to attack him.
A lawyer for Nicklaus Companies did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday night.
Earlier this year, a New York judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against Nicklaus by the Nicklaus Companies, which sought to prevent golfers from using Nicklaus’ name, image and likeness to promote his golf course design business.
Nicklaus joined the Nicklaus Companies in 2007 as part of a $145 million deal, but Nicklaus ultimately planned to retire and continue designing golf courses himself. Although Nicklaus is once again free to design golf courses under his own name, the Nicklaus Companies retains the right to sell clothing and equipment with the “Jack Nicklaus” logo.
