The divorce of Liberty Puzzles owners Sage and Chris Wirth reportedly cost the popular Boulder company a retail location inside Denver International Airport this spring and now threatens to place it under the control of a court-appointed caretaker — at Sage Wirth’s request.

“The companies are plagued by uncertainty in leadership,” she said of Liberty’s factory and Pearl Street Mall location in a July 23 lawsuit, “and indicia of mismanagement.”

Sage and Chris Wirth, the son of former U.S. Sen. Tim Wirth, started what was initially called Heritage Puzzles in 2005 with the help of a friend, Jeff Eldridge, who at the time was a bar owner in Pueblo. The company is known for its artisanal wooden jigsaw puzzles with so-called whimsy pieces. They cost around $100.

Liberty opened a Pearl Street Mall shop in 2014 and hosts tours at its factory on Boulder’s east side. Puzzles were one of a few niche hobby industries to benefit from the pandemic and Liberty soared in 2020, turning off online ordering at times and implementing a waiting list, which once had 5,000 people on it. The business now employs more than 100 people.

Chris Wirth, left, and Jeff Eldridge at Liberty Puzzles in 2007. (Facebook)

While the Wirths were married, Liberty was co-owned 60%-40% by Chris Wirth and Eldridge. Then, in 2022, Sage Wirth discovered that her husband had been carrying on an extramarital affair with Eldridge’s sister-in-law, according to last week’s lawsuit. She divorced him.

The Wirths’ 2023 divorce settlement granted Sage a 20% ownership stake in Liberty and ensured that major decisions would not be made without her consent, she recalls. A distribution check from Liberty’s two LLCs is placed on her work desk each Friday, she says.

But the three co-owners have failed to piece together an operating agreement for their puzzle company since 2023. The Wirths have reportedly had disagreements.

“This is a perfect example of the 20% minority owner with minimal business experience tail wagging the dog, preventing us from moving forward with operations,” Chris Wirth sniped at his ex-wife in January, when she objected to an employee’s promotion and raise.

She also objected to the kiosk at DIA but hasn’t said why. In a May 22 letter, a Liberty lawyer complained that she “blocked” the store, which “would have provided a high-visibility retail channel (and) meaningful incremental revenue.” 

She has also interfered with marketing and media relations, “including by contacting a reporter preparing a story involving the company and asserting that Mr. Wirth was not accurately portraying it,” the lawyer wrote.

That same day, Eldridge and Chris Wirth allegedly sent Sage a draft operating agreement that gives them sole control of decision-making at Liberty Puzzles and lets them buy out her ownership shares at a discount whenever they choose. So, she sued them and Liberty.

The owners of Liberty Puzzles outside its store in Boulder in 2024. From left: Sage Wirth, Jeff Eldridge and Chris Wirth. (Facebook)

“The companies and the individual defendants deny the allegations and intend to defend the case vigorously,” Liberty said in a statement from its lawyer, Matt Cooper of Volant Law in Englewood. “Each will respond in its own filings, which we expect in the coming weeks.”

Sage Wirth is asking Boulder Judge J. Chris Larson to affirm that she owns 20% of Liberty Puzzles and Liberty Pearl Retail LLC, the Boulder store. She also wants a formal accounting — she believes the checks left on her desk are probably smaller than they should be — plus an undetermined amount of money for the defendants’ fraud and conspiracy.

“Sage Wirth has spent decades investing her heart and soul in the Liberty Puzzles companies, which have become very successful and iconic Boulder, Colorado, companies due to her efforts,” says her lawyer, Stan Garnett.

Then there’s Tom Kim. Sage Wirth wants the longtime Denver bankruptcy attorney and turnaround specialist to be placed in charge of Liberty Puzzles and Liberty Pearl until the owners sort out their dispute. Sage Wirth complains that Eldridge and her ex-husband keep forgetting to file documents with the secretary of state’s office, leaving the company unregistered.

“While Ms. Wirth cannot attribute such delinquency to the present lack of clear leadership, she can safely conclude it evidences poor management,” her lawsuit states. 

It was filed by Garnett, Sara Bodner and Luke Breckenridge of Garnett Powell Maximon Barlow & Farbes in Denver.

“Ms. Wirth filed this case to protect the Liberty Puzzles companies from mismanagement and to formalize her rights in these companies she loves,” Garnett said. “She is confident that the court system will protect the companies and assure that she is treated fairly.”