Ohio State golf legend Jack Nicklaus has won $50 million in a defamation lawsuit against his former business partners.
A six-person jury in Palm Beach County, Fla., ruled that Nicklaus Companies had damaged the reputation of Nicklaus.
According to the lawsuit, Nicklaus claimed that people at the company spread false storied that the former golfer had considered a $750 million deal to join LIV Golf League, backed by Saudi Arabia, and that he was no longer mentally fit to manage his affairs because he was suffering from dementia.
The defense claimed that the company executives never tried to defame Nicklaus, and the case was a business dispute. They said that Nicklaus’ reputation wasn’t damaged and that they wouldn’t have tried to damage his reputation since the company shares the Nicklaus name.
The owner and executive chairman of Nicklaus companies, Howard Milstein and executive Andrew O’Brien were named as individual defendants in the case, but they were not found personally liable.
Earlier this year, Nicklaus companies filed a lawsuit against Nicklaus to try to prevent the golfer from using his name, image and likeness to promote his golf course design business, but that case was dismissed by a New York judge, allowing Nicklaus to continue to design golf courses under his own name.
