Ruby Rinker and Andrew Bytnar, at a recent Kravis Center function (Kravis Center photo)
PALM BEACH — Big money socialite Ruby Rinker, the construction materials heiress who once asked Palm Beach officials to nix a green market because her maids do her shopping in “beautiful supermarkets,” is entangled in a nasty divorce battle against husband Andrew Bytnar.
At the heart of his fight is whether the millions Rinker has amassed in real estate and other investments since the inception of 15-year marriage are going to be split 50-50.
How much money is there for the taking?
Hard to tell since Rinker’s lawyers are fighting her mandatory financial disclosure.
But it’s safe to say there are millions at stake.
Ruby was the second wife of Marshall “Doc” Rinker , who made the single-truck Rinker Materials Corp. into a prodigious money machine that furnished materials for projects such as Disney World and Cape Canaveral.
Doc died in 1996 at 91, leaving her at least $5 million and other goodies.
On the advice of her doctor when she complained of depression at Doc’s death, Rinker took dance lessons, according to court files.
Bytnar was her dance instructor, a then-penniless immigrant who fled communism in Poland — and they eventually hooked up for more than the vertical mambo.
Since their wedding, Ruby has bought and sold quite a few properties in Palm Beach County, including the $23.5 million-sale of a Billionaire’s Row house in 2012!
She still owns three properties in Palm Beach that could be worth a combined $30 million, according to a real estate source.
Rinker and Bytnar battled over a pre-nuptial agreement signed by the 61-year-old Bytnar two days before their 1998 marriage.
In their pre-nuptial agreement, meanwhile, Bytnar appeared to trade for a life of luxury alongside the 78-year-old widow plus $3,000-a-month in pocket-money and an education for each of his four children from previous relationships.
Over the course of the marriage, according to court papers, Bytnar received nearly $1 million from Rinker.
In exchange, the document shows, he’d be getting no alimony, support or housing in the “unlikely” event of a divorce.
The pre-nupt, however, recently was set aside by Family Court Judge Charles Burton, rendering it unenforceable.
In declaring the pre-nupt invalid, Burton wondered why a multi-millionaire like Rinker didn’t hire an attorney to ensure that the pre-nupt would hold water in court.
“It’s a tribute to the court that (the judge) was able to see through the pre-nupt, and it provides comfort that money and power aren’t going to dictate the administration of justice,” said Stuart Manoff, Bytnar’s attorney.
Manoff also bristled at the impression that Bytnar was just another Palm Beach poseur in search of a sugar mama.
“He is a pleasant gentleman who wasn’t, and isn’t, motivated by her money. He didn’t court her. she invited him to her house.”
Rinker filed for divorce in February, according to court documents, after Bytnar allegedly disappeared in the middle of the society ball season and headed to Europe and Aspen without telling her.
Apparently, his statement that she “sounded more like a mother than a wife” had rubbed her the wrong way.
She filed and immediately stopped paying for his health insurance and pulled his access to their marital home at 225 Peruvian Avenue.
In one motion, Rinker asked the judge to grant her exclusive use of their marital home because, Rinker claims, Bytnar is verbally abuse when he drinks. Burton granted the motion.
Rinker also yanked Bytnar’s health insurance, according to another motion, at a time when Bytnar was diagnosed with a tumor on one of his eyes.
Burton ordered Rinker to reinstate and keep paying for Bytnar’s health package.
The next battle ground on this case, according to court files, centers on Rinker’s disclosure of her finances.
Jay Schwartz, Rinker’s attorney, didn’t return calls for comment.
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