Jack Nicklaus Re-Acquires Nicklaus Companies After $50M Lawsuit

Jack Nicklaus has completed the re-acquisition of his name, image, and likeness held by the Nicklaus Companies, five months after winning a $50 million defamation lawsuit against the former owner of his namesake enterprise.

An investment group called 20 Majors, LLC—led by Nicklaus, TWG Global, and Nicklaus Brown—has purchased the businesses of Nicklaus Companies, LLC, the firm announced Friday. A bankruptcy court in Florida approved the $35.7 million deal earlier this month. 

With the purchase, Nicklaus, 86, takes back ownership of marks like the iconic Golden Bear used on apparel. His current golf course design projects will now fall under Nicklaus Design. He has won more major championships (The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and Open Championship) than anyone else, typically recognized as 18—although some say 20 because the U.S. Amateur was considered a major when he won that tournament in 1959 and 1961.

The Nicklaus Companies fell into bankruptcy after the October court ruling in favor of Nicklaus against the company under its former owner, billionaire banker Howard Milstein, who bought the golf legend’s IP rights in 2007 for $145 million.

A six-person jury in Palm Beach County, Fla., found that the Nicklaus Companies actively participated in the false publishing of facts that damaged Nicklaus’s reputation and exposed him to “ridicule, hatred, mistrust, distrust or contempt.”

The Nicklaus Companies had sued Nicklaus in 2022 after he began offering golf course design services following the expiration of a five-year non-compete clause. He had largely stopped working with the company in 2017. Nicklaus then countersued the Nicklaus Companies in 2023, alleging that Milstein and Nicklaus Companies executive Andrew O’Brien spread false stories that he secretly negotiated a $750 million deal to lead LIV Golf. While the jury ruled in favor of Nicklaus against the company at large, the jury ruled in favor of Milstein and O’Brien as it relates to Nicklaus’s claims against them individually, so the two men did not have to personally pay any damages.

TWG Global is a multinational holding company led by Lakers and Dodgers owner Mark Walter. Through TWG, Walter also owns the Professional Women’s Hockey League and the Cadillac Formula 1 Team. Brown is the chief financial officer of 20 Majors.