| Lately, being a golf fan is a legal education in and of itself.
On April 21 in Florida, Jack Nicklaus filed a defamation lawsuit against Howard Milstein, his longtime business partner and the CEO of The Nicklaus Companies, for saying he (that is, the 18-time major champion, prolific course architect and statesman of the game) was interested in taking LIV money until Milstein stopped him. Essentially, it’s a rehash of accusations from a lawsuit filed a year ago in New York in which the plaintiff and defendant roles are reversed. The odd name of that case is Nicklaus Companies, LLC vs. Jack W. Nicklaus, and it has no clear end in sight. Among the stakes are who owns the name, image and likeness rights of “The Golden Bear.”
It’s messy and hard to understand.
Thankfully, we know a Harvard Law School alum and 14-handicap who speaks frankly. In a special early-publication for Golf Digest+ subscribers, legal scholar Jeff Toobin breaks down the story of a complicated business relationship that began in 2007. Beyond the legal issues, Toobin writes, “A larger truth seems clearer: that two, independent headstrong alpha-males grew to loathe one another—as might’ve been predicted from the start.”
Howard Milstein is the owner of GOLF magazine and GOLF.com, a central competitor of Golf Digest. Short of a formal interview on the record, Mr. Milstein and his representatives were courteous and cooperative throughout our reporting process. Jack Nicklaus spoke on the record as well as opened the doors of his Florida home for our photographer, Jesse Reiser, accompanied by Golf Digest chief designer David Schlow and photo editor Stephen Denton.
So who’s right and who’s wrong? After reading this, you be the judge. |
