LIV Golf filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan with a New Jersey court Tuesday, along with a proposed schedule for a final hearing on its disclosure statement on Jan. 7 that would begin liquidation.
LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 8 after the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which had bankrolled the breakaway league from the start, said a change in strategy meant it would no longer pay for LIV after the 2026 season.
The bankruptcy plan is for an orderly wind down of LIV. The restructuring agreement with BC Partners Credit, which had pledged $300 million, failed to garner enough support for a LIV 2.0 version that would have kept the league going in 2027.
“Debtors have determined that no viable restructuring transaction remains available due to lack of player participation and BC Partners’ termination of the Restructuring Support Agreement,” LIV said in a summary of the bankruptcy plan.
It said PIF invested approximately $5 billion in equity capital and that LIV Golf continually operated at a loss and was years away from profitability. The filing also revealed LIF laid off 289 employees and furloughed 22 others roughly a week before filing for bankruptcy.
This was about a month after it finished paying $15.6 million in retention bonuses to seven executives LIV said was essential to finishing the 2026 season and making plans for restructuring.
A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 24 to conditionally approve the disclosure statement, which requires adequate information for those to whom LIV owes money and begins the wind-down phase of LIV operations.
The six weeks in between the Jan. 7 hearing to approve the statement are to determine voting rights and take any objections from those who have claims. A wind-down trust would oversee payments to creditors, resolve legal claims and handle other financial matters.
The judge last week approved Jon Rahm's separation from LIV, which cost the two-time major champion a reported $100 million he was owed from when he joined the Saudi-funded league at the end of 2023. Rahm won last week in Abu Dhabi for his first regular European tour title since 2022.
The other LIV players, who have been banned by the PGA Tour, now must figure out where to play. Some have European tour membership or can try to get sponsor exemptions to tournaments, though not the strongest events on the schedule.
The PGA Tour has not indicated a path back for players and likely won't until the bankruptcy proceedings are over.
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FILE - An overall view of a LIV Golf sign at the pro-am ahead of LIV Golf Team Championship at the Trump National Doral, Oct. 19, 2023 in Miami. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP, File)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Mongolia has lodged a diplomatic protest with Malaysia over the handling of the murder case of a Mongolian woman, urging authorities to ensure a fair legal process and provide answers to her family 20 years after her killing.
Altantuya Shaariibuu was shot dead and blown up with military-grade plastic explosives in a jungle outside Kuala Lumpur in October 2006. Her killing touched off a scandal linked to former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has repeatedly denied any involvement.
Two members of an elite police unit who were Najib’s bodyguards were convicted of killing Altantuya. Her lover Abdul Razak Baginda, a close aide to Najib, was tried but acquitted of abetting the crime. Who ordered the killing was never established. Altantuya was 28 and pregnant at the time of her death.
Former Mongolian Prime Minister Zandanshatar Gombojav said Thursday that Mongolia “profoundly regret the decision” in January by Malaysia’s Court of Appeal that removed the Malaysian government’s liability in a civil suit brought by Altantuya’s family and reduced the damages awarded.
Zandanshatar is Mongolia's special envoy and a member of a high-level government task force to support Altantuya's family.
He said Mongolia had sent a diplomatic protest note on Tuesday with four requests: including a fair review of the court ruling, the return of one of a convicted officer who escaped to Australia so he can testify in the civil suit, an examination of potentially new evidence and an official written response to Mongolia.
“Twenty years have passed, and her family has endured unimaginable loss without ever hearing the words ‘I am sorry.’ A fair and final resolution of this case matters greatly to the trust between our two countries,” Zandanshatar told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.
There was speculation that Altantuya, who was also working as a translator for Abdul Razak, was silenced to prevent her from exposing alleged corruption involving the purchase of submarines from France when Najib was deputy premier and defense minister.
The two policemen were sentenced to death. One fled to Australia while appealing his conviction, while the other had his sentence commuted to 40 years in prison in 2024.
Najib later became prime minister, but his party lost power in a 2018 general election and he was imprisoned for graft in a financial scandal. The new government reopened investigations into Altantuya's death following appeals from her family, but there was no clear outcome.
The family then filed a civil suit against the government, the two policemen and Abdul Razak for the shock and trauma they suffered in connection with her death. In 2022, a Malaysian high court ruled that the defendants were liable for damages and awarded the family 5 million ringgit ($1.2 million).
But the decision was overturned in January by the Court of Appeal, which reduced the damages to 1.4 million ringgit ($343,000) and said the defendants were not liable as the conduct of the two policemen fell outside the scope of their official duties. Altantuya’s family has challenged the appellate ruling.
Zandanshatar said the two policemen's testimony was crucial to obtaining justice. He urged Malaysia to step up talks with Australia to secure the return of the policeman still there. The officer's death sentence is a major obstacle to extradition from Australia.
The policeman imprisoned in Malaysia had reportedly made a statutory declaration in 2019 alleging that Najib had ordered the killing. The other officer in Australia has also made statements suggesting the killing was carried out on orders from higher authorities. Najib has denied the allegations, which have not been established in court.
Former Mongolian Prime Minister Zandanshatar Gombojavyn speaks during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Eileen Ng)
