A Florida jury on Monday awarded Jack Nicklaus $50 million in his defamation lawsuit against Nicklaus Companies, which is owned by billionaire banker Howard Milstein.
Nicklaus, 85, filed the lawsuit in response to statements that Milstein and other Nicklaus Companies officials made in a previous lawsuit in a New York court.
In the defamation lawsuit, Nicklaus claimed the defendants suggested that he had considered a $750 million deal to become the face of the Saudi Arabian-financed LIV Golf League and disseminated those false claims to media outlets.
“It’s always hard in a defamation case to prove damages to reputation, because in particular for a guy like Jack, it’s always such a good one,” Nicklaus’ attorney, Eugene Stearns, told ESPN on Monday. “But I think what was important was the dispute that arose 3½ years ago when the company told the world that Jack was selling out the PGA Tour for the Saudi golf, when it was not true. So, we’re happy that Jack’s been vindicated.”
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