So, LIV Golf, bless its Saudi-funded heart, decided to spill the beans on just how much cash was sloshing around its executive suites, right before it decided to, you know, file for bankruptcy. It’s a bit like finding out the guy who set fire to your house got a bonus for "fire safety management" just before the blaze.
Chief Executive Scott O’Neil snagged a cool $6.4 million retention payment. This was a mere three months before the whole shebang needed the financial equivalent of a life raft and a stern talking-to from Judge Robert Drain. Honestly, you have to admire the sheer audacity. It’s almost as if they were paying O’Neil to ensure he’d stick around to watch the whole thing go down in flames. Because that’s definitely how retention works, right? You pay people to be there when everything collapses.
The bankruptcy court filings in New Jersey, which are just delightful reading, show O’Neil’s payday on June 24th. Then there was the earlier $2.7 million pat on the back in February. Did they think these little "thank yous" would make him feel better about presiding over the tour's slow-motion dive into the Mariana Trench of debt? Or maybe it was just a "so long and thanks for all the… well, everything you managed to lose" kind of deal. Between September 2025 and August 2026, O’Neil apparently raked in over $13.6 million. That’s a lot of very expensive golf balls.
And let’s not forget Greg Norman, the former commissioner who managed to exit with over $9.4 million. This included a settlement of nearly $5.8 million and a farewell bonus of $3.6 million. So, he left with his pockets lined, his ego presumably massaged, and probably a much more comfortable golf bag. It's like the boss saying, "Thanks for driving this car off a cliff, here's your severance package for the excellent job you did."
The numbers keep on giving. The court documents reveal that a whopping $15.6 million was set aside for executive retention. The Chief Financial Officer, David Phillips, got over $3.3 million, and the Chief Legal Officer, John Ruzich, pocketed about $2.6 million. It’s a fascinating financial strategy: keep the money flowing to the top brass while the ship is taking on water faster than you can bail. I can only imagine the board meetings: "So, the tour is teetering on the brink of oblivion. Excellent! Let's give everyone a raise." Now they’re talking about a "LIV 2.0" or just shutting the whole thing down. Either way, the executives seem to have landed on their feet, which is more than you can say for the tour itself.