The wealthy Brinkerhoff family from Colorado is undergoing a tumultuous divorce following revelations that the family’s patriarch cheated his ex-wife out of her rightful share of the business.
The divorce between William and Renee Brinkerhoff has caused a rift between their two sons, who have taken opposing sides in the bitter dispute marred by accusations of infidelity and mistreatment.
Renee alleges that throughout their marriage, her ex-husband exerted control over her, influenced by sexist beliefs that men are superior to women, stemming from the Christian sect they were part of during their college years.
Court documents obtained by the Denver Post detail how William allegedly insisted he be copied into all of his ex-wife’s communications and referred to himself as a ‘benevolent dictator’.
Renee became a charity Porsche racer at the age of 56, after decades as a stay-at-home mom. She became the first person to race in all seven continents after completing a 356 mile drive in Antarctica in 2021 in a bid to raise money to prevent child trafficking.
She began seeing a therapist who wrote in a report last year that William had a ‘long history of infidelity’ and would allegedly threaten further indiscretions to punish his ex-wife or coerce her into doing what he wanted.
With their marriage in jeopardy, a deal was apparently struck in 2008 to stave off divorce which would give Renee a 50 percent ownership in the family’s Mexican restaurants, according to court documents.
However, William used ‘a series of concealed machinations’ to eradicate his ex-wife’s share in the restaurants, a judge determined when they eventually divorced in December last year.
William and Renee Brinkerhoff’s acrimonious divorce has split their wealthy Colorado family down the middle after a judge ruled William had swindled his ex-wife out of her share of their restaurant businesses
The esteemed Colorado couple divorced in December 2024 and share four adult children
She is now suing William over the move, despite already being awarded a divorce settlement worth $29.5 million.
‘My mom told me that she had agreed with my father that they would be 50-50 owners of the family’s restaurant business,’ Will Brinkerhoff Jr., the eldest of the couple’s four children, said in an affidavit obtained by the Denver Post.
‘My dad confirmed this to me several times. Specifically, he told me that he regretted giving my mom an ownership stake in the family restaurant business.’
He added that he recalled hearing his dad, ‘musing whether he could revise the deal so that she was no longer an owner.’
Divorce judge William Meyer determined that William executed his plan and then sold the La Loma restaurant’s real estate for $18 million, keeping the proceeds solely for himself and using it to launch new premises.
While Renee said she believed she was a co-owner of the new restaurants, the couple’s younger son Mark was given her share of the business.
She said in the court filings that she found an email from William to one of her son’s which contained an e-book about how Adam’s failure to control Eve in the Bible led to the original sin.
She claims that William espoused these views and worked to sideline her from the business.
But Mark refutes his mom and brother’s account and said Renee was aware of the ownership situation, citing emails where she offered her congratulations and encouragement in response to newspaper articles which listed him as the owner.
Renee claims her ex-husband has religious beliefs which founded a sexist attitude towards her and their daughters which led to her being iced out of the business
She received a $29.5 million divorce settlement, which includes $8.5 million of Hawaiian real estate, but is still pursuing further litigation
However, Renee claims she would never have approved of Mark becoming co-owner due to his ‘immaturity and drinking’.
As part of the $29.5 million divorce settlement, she received $8.5 million of Hawaiian real estate, two properties in Denver, two Porsches, half the couple’s other 21 vehicles and the least three profitable of the family’s six Mexican restaurants.
Renee had wanted the better performing restaurants which would have meant sharing them with her estranged son Mark, however this was refused by Meyer who noted it would only fan the flames of the litigation.
Instead, her ex-husband must pay her $5.5 million over five years, plus $50,000 per month until she either remarries or dies, Meyer ruled.
However, she continues to pursue action against her husband which is due to go to trail in June unless a settlement is reached.
Any such trial would likely expose further embarrassing family secrets.
The outcome could bolster the male Brinkerhoff’s position or see their restaurant empire carved up even further.
William’s lawyers want her to abandon the case and argue that he and Mark’s business decisions have financed her life, ‘including her international racing hobby/business that lost millions of dollars’.
They denied that her ex-husband, ‘psychologically abused and isolated her while she raced vintage Porsches on all seven continents over the last 10 years.’
The charity Porsche racer (center) alleged that her husband was coercive, controlling and unfaithful during their 45-year marriage
William’s lawyers argue that she is trying to get more than she is owed and deny that he was ever controlling or abusive
Renee founded Valkyrie Racing as a charitable endeavor in which she raced her 1956 Porsche 356A across all seven continents to raise money for anti-trafficking 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 they have enjoyed over the past forty years.’
