Sister Wivesstar Kody Brown iscurrently fighting the Battle of Coyote Pass, tangling with Janelle and Meri Brown over the fate of the Arizona land, and Mykelti Brush’s previous comments about his financial life make it clear that money issues are never far from the patriarch’s mind. In light of a hardscrabble past whereKody had many mouths to feedand not enough money, it’s not impossible that he’s hanging onto the land until market conditions are in his favor. If he lists the property in a “seller’s market,” he may get a better return on his investment.
Kody, who sometimes plays the victim, reportedly owns the lion’s share of Coyote Pass - a whopping 97 percent, while Meri and Janelle have much smaller shares. Those women want him to sell the land and give them what they’re owed. This is why there’s been so much focus on Kody’s spending habits and financial history. He once had four wives, including Christine Brown, and now has 17 children (Garrison Brown sadly passed away), and his desire to multiply love left him with a lot of bills to pay.
Mykelti Said Kody Tried “Get Rich Quick” Schemes
Gwendlyn Said Kody Was “Spending Very Crazy”
Kody worked a sign sales job in the old days. Janelle went out to work too. However, those two salaries weren’t enough to pay for everything. All those kids needed to eat, just like the adults did. They also neededshelter, clothes, medicine, electricity, and school supplies. According to his daughter Mykelti, as perThe Authentic Podcast, Kody tried to find a way to ease the crushing responsibility of providing, by trying"get rich quick"schemes. However, later on, another daughter, Gwendlyn Brown, took to YouTube to accuse him of"spending very crazy."
When Mykelti talked about Kody’s money issues in the old days, she wasn’t cutting him down. She got very real, explaining why he chose the"get rich quick"schemes - it was because the family was"very poor.“This isn’t a sob story - the truth is that Kody and Meri filed for bankruptcy in 2015 - all the other now-exes have filed for bankruptcy too. Only Robyn hasn’t done so, although she had credit card debt totaling around 32K. In a Reddit thread started byMamaJa2016, Robyn shared her attitude about cold, hard cash:
“Kody and I are different in the way that we look at money. He talks a lot about saving money and not spending money and stuff like that. And I think saving is good, but I also think that quality of living is important. If Flagstaff could improve our quality of living, then it would be worth the money to me.”
The Browns were trying to stay afloat, until reality TV fame changed their lives forever. However, Janelle says she still has financial problems today. She recently complained about the fact that Kody had so much financial control over the family. She did the books, and he pulled money from accounts whenever he wanted to. Apparently,discussions about money trigger Kody, maybe because he knows what it’s like not to have it. During a Feb, 2025 episode ofSister Wives, Janelle said Kody thinks money’s a
“hot button topic.”
He said onscreen that Janelle has the same"assets"as everyone else, but she doesn’t live in a $2.1 million home like Kody and Robyn do. In fact, onscreen, last season, she seemed miserable in a tiny rental. She could barely move around in her small kitchen. She and Kody clashed on her couch, which wasn’t a really fancy piece of furniture. Meanwhile,Kody and Robyn had a Flagstaff palacewith a huge living room and gourmet kitchen.
Kody’s Lifestyle Got So Lavish
Things Have Really Changed
Lately, with Kody and Robyn, it’s so lavish. Kody’s got his David Yurman shield pendant. Kody and Robyn wear matching David Yurman signet rings. Robyn’s been spotted in high-end shoes by Tory Burch. They’ve got the big house and in the past, they inflamed the other then-wives by taking a glam vacation in Hawaii that seemed to go on forever. Kody’s clearly sick of poverty - he clawed his way out of it however he could, and there’s nothing wrong with that. What causes controversyis his lifestyle with Robyn, versus how some of the exes live.
Mykelti said:
“My dad always chased a get-rich-quick scheme, almost always,”
Well. I can’t really blame him for trying. I think the pressure he was under was extreme. If he looked for ways to generate income rapidly, who could possibly blame him? The problem is that those schemes often fail.Yes, we have our Bitcoin millionaires and all that, but how many of them do you personally know?It’s not an everyday thing to try a get-rich scheme and have it work out. In most cases, it’s more like a pipe dream.
20 Best Reality TV Shows Right Now
Reality TV is more popular than ever. With so many to choose from, here are some of the best reality TV shows to stream or watch right now.
Anyone who’s lived without a lot of money can probably understand what Kody was up against and sympathize. He’s not a villain for going on TV to make money. In a sense, he didn’t have a lot of options. However, his decision to put his wives and children on television has definitely had its downside.
As the Coyote Pass war rages, the ex-wives may be looking back at the hard days when there wasn’t enough of anything, and wondering why Kody won’t just sell the property and give them closure (and a bit of money.)
It’s been a long, strange trip onSister Wives. In the old days,they didn’t have much, but they actually seemed happier. They did inexpensive things that were fun - they carved pumpkins on the lawn, or went sledding. Money’s important, but lots of people who have oodles of it are unhappy. Look at all the rich Hollywood actors and rock stars who’ve gone off the rails. It’s good that Kody’s got an upscale lifestyle now, and hopefully he’s not in too much debt. However, it has to be said that he has more now, but doesn’t seem happy at all.
Kody Isn’t All Bad
He Tried His Best
The thing is, thatSister Wives' Kody Browndid provide for his wife and kids. The children didn’t have a lot, but he got them through their childhoods - onscreen, they appeared to be well-fed, with decent clothes. Maybe they wished they had more, but he took care of them. Kody gets a bad rap - it’s like he can’t win, but with the Brown women helping, he did get those kids through childhood.
It’s tragic that the family lost Garrison and Kody doesn’t deserve the blame for that. No one should be blamed for something like that.
It wasn’t easy forSister Wives' Kody back then but he managed, putting his life out there for everyone to judge. That was a way that theSister Wivesstar put food on the table. When his choices are viewed in that context, the decisions he made become a lot more understandable.
