What Is Jay Monahan's Net Worth and Salary?
Jay Monahan is an American sports executive who has a net worth of $40 million. Jay Monahan is the fourth commissioner of golf's PGA Tour, a position he has held since January 2017. His time as commissioner has been controversial as he did business with the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi Arabian investment fund, and owners of LIV Golf, which is a rival organization of the PGA Tour.
Salary
Jay Monahan's base salary is $1.8 million. In recent years his total compensation has been around $20 million when you include royalties and other non-cash benefits. For example, he earned a total of $14 million in 2021, $18.6 million in 2022 and $20.7 million in 2023.
Early Life
Jay Monahan was born on May 7, 1970, in Belmont, Massachusetts, a suburb northwest of Boston. He attended Belmont High School, and after he graduated, he spent one more year at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. Jay played golf as a child and went on to play Division III golf and hockey at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was an Academic All-American in his senior season under golf coach Bill Detrick. He graduated with a history degree in 1993 and then earned a master's degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1995.
Career
Monahan has spent his professional career working in the world of professional sports, though he did not always work in golf. He worked with Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, prior to working in golf. When the Red Sox won the World Series in 2007, Monahan also got a World Series ring. He also helped manage Fenway Sports Group's sponsorship sales operations for the Red Sox, Boston College Athletics, and NASCAR's Roush Fenway Racing.
In June 2008, Jay joined the PGA Tour as the executive director of The Players Championship. In 2010, he was named the Tour's Senior Vice President for Business Development. In March 2013, he was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. In that role, he oversaw business development, corporate marketing and partnerships, title sponsor relations, retail licensing, and media sales.
From 2014 to 2016, Monahan served as Deputy Commissioner of the PGA Tour for two years and then became the Chief Operating Officer. When PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem announced his retirement in November 2016, Monahan was poised to take over. Two months later, in January 2017, he became the fourth commissioner of the PGA Tour.
Since Monahan took over as commissioner, the PGA Tour has grown substantially in size. Player compensation reached new highs under his leadership, and the fan base for the sport of golf has expanded both in size and diversity. Additionally, he has spearheaded PGA Tour efforts to raise money for charity. Since he took over, the Tour has raised over $200 million each year for such efforts.
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, Monahan helped navigate the world of professional golf through the challenging times. It was among the first of professional sports to return to competition in June 2020. Around this time, he also helped negotiate a deal that would result in the opening of a new PGA Global Headquarters and PGA TOUR Studios.
Additionally, as commissioner of the PGA Tour, Monahan serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the International Golf Federation. He also is on the Board of the PGA European Tour and is Chair of the World Golf Federation and PGA Tour Tee Foundation Board of Governors.
Monahan has faced his fair share of criticism while commissioner. In 2022, a new golf organization debuted called LIV Golf, a Saudi Arabian-backed organization that hoped to position itself as an alternative to the PGA Tour. Given its ties to the Saudi government, LIV had access to massive amounts of wealth and the ability to attract major PGA players. This resulted in the PGA Tour increasing the possible winnings at some of their events, but LIV still easily outpaced the PGA in terms of winnings offered. The league is also run by commissioner Greg Norman, a former professional golfer himself.
Initially, Monahan and the PGA refused to collaborate or cooperate with LIV and instead issued punishments for PGA golfers who agreed to play on LIV tours. The Department of Justice subsequently launched an investigation into anti-competitive behaviors at the PGA. Overtime, Monahan came around to negotiating more with Norman and LIV Golf. He has since faced backlash for doing so. LIV Golf, and specifically the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which owns it, has been accused of promoting sportswashing. Sportswashing is a practice by which a government will spend millions of dollars promoting sporting events in their country in order to distract focus from other less desirable issues like property, human rights violations, and other controversies. Specifically, LIV is accused of promoting sportswashing to divert the focus from the controversies and crimes committed by the regime led by Mohammad bin Salem, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Some have since called for Monahan's resignation as commissioner due to his willingness to cooperate with LIV Gold.
Personal Life & Real Estate
Monahan and his wife, Susan, have two daughters. They reside in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, near the PGA Tour headquarters and the home of The Players Championship, TPC Sawgrass. Monahan is a co-founder and board member of Golf Fights Cancer, a non-profit organization that is focused on raising money for cancer research.
In 2014, Jay and his wife paid $1.75 million for a property in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. In 2016, they completed construction on a 6,000-square-foot mansion. Today this home is likely worth $8-10 million.
