A family of rich restaurant owners in Colorado has been torn apart by an ugly divorce battle after it was brought to his patriarch on the road, his ex-wife from her part of the company.
The split of William and Renee Brinkerhoff has seen their two sons opposite parties in the bitter spit, who has also uncovered accusations of unfaithfulness and abuse.
Renee claims that her ex-husband has checked her during their marriage, because of sexist beliefs in the superiority of men to women who were founded in the Christian cult they have met as students.
Judicial documents obtained by the Denver Post Detail how William allegedly said that he would be copied in all the communication of his ex-wife and named himself as a 'benevolent dictator'.
Renee became a charter-racer at the age of 56, after decades as a mother at home. She became the first person to race on all seven continents after completing a 356 Mile Drive in Antarctica in 2021 in an attempt to raise money to prevent child trafficking.
She started to see a therapist who wrote in a report last year that William had a 'long history of unfaithfulness' and is said to threaten further indiscetions to punish his ex-wife or force her what he wanted.
With their marriage in Jeopardy, apparently a deal was concluded in 2008 to avert divorce that would give Renee a 50 percent owned in the Mexican restaurants of the family, according to judicial documents.
However, William used 'a series of hidden machinations' to eradicate the share of his ex-wife in the restaurants, a judge decided when they finally divorced in December last year.
The bitter separation of William and Renee Brinkerhoff has split their rich family Colorado in the middle after a judge ruled that William had scammed his ex-wife from her share in their restaurant companies
The appreciated Colorado pair was separated in December 2024 and shares four adult children
She now sues William during the move, even though she has already granted a divorce scheme worth $ 29.5 million.
“My mother told me she had it with my father that they would be 50-50 owners of the family company of the family,” said Will Brinkerhoff Jr., the eldest of the four children of the couple, obtained in a sworn explanation by the Denver Post.
“My father has confirmed this to me several times. In particular, he told me that he regretted that he had given my mother a ownership of ownership in the family business. '
He added that he remembered that he was hearing his father, “said he could revise the deal so that she was no longer an owner.”
Divorce judge William Meyer found that William was implementing his plan and then sold the Real Estate of the La Loma restaurant for $ 18 million, so that the proceeds were only kept for itself and launched the use of a new building.
While Renee said she believed that she was co-owner of the new restaurants, the younger son of the couple got her share in the company.
She said in the court requests that she found an e-mail from William to one of her son who contained an e-book about how Adam's failure to control Eva led to the original sin in the Bible.
She claims that William has embraced these views and worked to drop her off the company.
But Mark refers the account of his mother and brother and said that Renee was aware of the ownership situation, with reference to Emails where she offered her congratulations and encouragement in response to newspaper articles that mentioned him as the owner.
Renee claims that her ex-husband has religious beliefs that founded a sexist attitude towards her and their daughters who led her to be described from the company
She received a divorce scheme of $ 29.5 million, which includes $ 8.5 million Hawaiian real estate, but still strives after further court cases
However, Renee claims that she would never have approved that Mark became co-owner because of his 'immature and drink'.
As part of the $ 29.5 million divorce scheme, she received $ 8.5 million Hawaiian real estate, two property in Denver, two Porsches, half of the other 21 vehicles of the pair and the least three profitable of the family's six Mexican restaurants.
Renee had wanted the better performing restaurants, which would mean that they would share them with her alienated son Mark, but this was refused by Meyer who noticed that it would only venture the flames of the court case.
Instead, her ex-husband has to pay her $ 5.5 million in five years, plus $ 50,000 a month until she remarries or dies, Meyer ruled.
However, she continues to take action against her husband who has to go to Trail in June, unless an arrangement is reached.
Such a test would probably uncover further embarrassing family secrets.
The outcome could strengthen the position of the male Brinkerhoff or see that their restaurant empire was carved even further.
William's lawyers want them to abandon the case and claim that the business decisions of him and Mark have financed her life, “including her international racing company/company that has lost millions of dollars.”
They denied that her ex-husband, “her psychologically abused and isolated while she raced vintage Porsches on all seven continents in the past 10 years.”
The charity racer (center) claimed that her husband was coercion, controlling and unfaithful during their 45-year marriage
William's lawyers claim that she is trying to get more than she owes and deny that he was once in control or offensive
Renee founded Valkyrie Racing as a charity in which she raced her Porsche 356a from 1956 on all seven continents to raise money for anti-human trading organizations.
“Our primary goal in this matter is to reach a resolution that will serve the needs of our entire family,” the former couple said in a joint statement to the Denver Post.
“Our guests will continue to receive the extraordinary level of hospitality that they have enjoyed for the past forty years.”
