DALLAS (AP) _ Restaurant mogul Norman Brinker of Dallas has died at a hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Brinker was 78. A spokeswoman says he suffered complications related to pneumonia while on vacation visiting family.
Brinker in 2000 retired as chairman of Brinker International, which now operates On the Border, Maggiano’s Little Italy and Romano’s Macaroni Grill.
Dallas billionaire and ex-presidential candidate Ross Perot described his friend as someone with a “tremendous ability to inspire and motivate other people to do great things.”
Brinker got his start with a coffee shop in Dallas. He later developed the concept for Steak & Ale and purchased Chili’s.
Brinker’s first wife, tennis great Maureen Connolly Brinker, died in 1969.
Brinker was divorced from Nancy Brinker, who’s a former U.S. ambassador and founder of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer charity.