Jack Nicklaus awarded $50 million in defamation suit after claims he considered monstrous deal from LIV Golf

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Legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus was awarded $50 million by a Florida jury after suing Nicklaus Companies, his former company financed by billionaire Howard Milstein, for defamation.

The 18-time major champion sued the company after it claimed Nicklaus was considering a $750 million deal to join LIV Golf and was no longer mentally fit to manage his business affairs.

Nicklaus met with the Saudis in 2021 but said he had turned down offers twice, according to Sports Illustrated. 

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Jack Nicklaus talks with his attorneys during a recess in closing arguments in Judge Reid P. Scott II's courtroom at the Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley Courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Oct. 20, 2025. (THOMAS CORDY/PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

"I was offered something in excess of $100 million by the Saudis, to do the job probably similar to the one that Greg is doing," Nicklaus said at the time. "I turned it down. Once verbally, once in writing. I said, 'Guys, I have to stay with the PGA Tour. I helped start the PGA Tour.'"

The lawsuit said Nicklaus "had no interest in the offer and declined because he felt the PGA Tour was an important part of his legacy, and if the PGA was not in favor of a new league, he did not want to be involved," according to ESPN.

Jack Nicklaus addresses the media prior to the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday at Muirfield Village Golf Club on June 4, 2024, in Dublin, Ohio. (Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

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