New Jersey — LIV Golf CEO Got $6.3 Million Before Bankruptcy Filing

LIV Golf paid chief executive Scott O'Neil a retention bonus of $6.375 million on June 24, less than three months before the tour filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to court records cited by ESPN. The figure appears in a statement of financial affairs that LIV Golf filed Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey.

What did the bankruptcy filing disclose about O'Neil's pay?

The statement of financial affairs is a standard bankruptcy disclosure that lists payments a company made to insiders before filing. For LIV Golf, that document shows O'Neil collected two large payments in 2026 on top of his regular compensation: a bonus of about $2.7 million on Feb. 13 and the $6.375 million retention payment on June 24, ESPN reported, citing the court records.

Retention bonuses are typically used to keep executives in place during periods of financial distress or restructuring. The filing does not explain, in the material reviewed, why LIV Golf structured the June payment as a retention bonus rather than as salary or a performance bonus.

When did LIV Golf file for Chapter 11?

ESPN's report describes the retention payment as coming less than three months before the circuit's Chapter 11 filing, which places the bankruptcy petition in the weeks around August 2026. The court records reviewed by ESPN cover a payroll period running from Sept. 12, 2025, to Aug. 28, 2026, which brackets both the February and June payments to O'Neil.

How much has O'Neil been paid since joining LIV Golf?

Over that roughly 12-month window, O'Neil received more than $13.6 million in combined payroll, bonuses, benefits, retention payments and expense reimbursements, according to the court records cited by ESPN. That total includes the $2.7 million February bonus and the $6.375 million June retention payment, meaning those two one-time payments account for the bulk of the money he collected during the period.

Payments to O'Neil, by the numbers

• $2.7 million — bonus paid Feb. 13, 2026
• $6.375 million — retention payment paid June 24, 2026
• $13.6 million+ — total compensation from Sept. 12, 2025, to Aug. 28, 2026

How does O'Neil's package compare with Greg Norman's exit pay?

O'Neil's predecessor, former LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman, left the circuit in September 2025 with a payout of more than $9.4 million, the court records show. That sum included a settlement of about $5.8 million and a bonus of $3.6 million, according to ESPN's review of the filing.

Taken together, the two executives who have run LIV Golf's day-to-day operations were paid a combined sum well into the tens of millions of dollars in the year before and during the tour's financial collapse, based on the figures disclosed in the bankruptcy filing.

What happens next in LIV Golf's bankruptcy case?

The statement of financial affairs is one of several disclosures LIV Golf has filed with the New Jersey bankruptcy court as part of its Chapter 11 process. ESPN has reported separately on other takeaways from the filings and on player reaction to the tour's restructuring, including golfers who have said they will not play in a planned LIV Golf reboot. Jon Rahm has reached a separation deal with LIV that requires him to give up the remainder of a nine-figure contract, ESPN has reported, and Louis Oosthuizen has said he will return to the European tour.

The bankruptcy court will continue to review LIV Golf's financial disclosures, including the executive payments, as the Chapter 11 case proceeds. Neither O'Neil nor LIV Golf is quoted in the court records as providing an explanation for the timing of the retention bonus relative to the bankruptcy filing, based on the material ESPN reviewed.

Why did LIV Golf file for bankruptcy protection?

ESPN's reporting on the court records does not detail the specific causes cited in LIV Golf's Chapter 11 petition. The outlet has reported separately on other takeaways from the tour's bankruptcy filings, including player departures that followed the filing. Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton are among golfers who have said they will not play in a planned LIV Golf reboot, according to ESPN's coverage.

The PGA Tour has addressed the fallout publicly. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said LIV golfers seeking to return "would have to earn their way in, just like any other player," according to ESPN. That remark came as LIV Golf worked through the disclosures now before the New Jersey bankruptcy court, including the executive payments to O'Neil and Norman.

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