The woman whose bitter big-bucks divorce made national headlines in the s when she dared to demand half of her GE Capital CEO husband's assets — arguing she was capital equal partner in his corporate rise — died Thursday after a options fight with cancer. Lorna Wendt, who was in her early 70s, "was an amazing person," said Arnold Rutkin, capital of her lawyers in her protracted divorce from high-powered executive Gary Wendt in Stamford, Conn. The Wendt divorce generated widespread media coverage — with Lorna ending up on the cover of Fortune magazine carrying the headline "What's a Corporate Wife Worth? But the case — which also sparked countless office water-cooler arguments and much concern in C-suites — also hinged on two tricky legal questions. One was whether a stay-at-home wife should be considered an equal partner for the sake of dividing marital assets that had been largely, or completely, acquired as a result of the corporate husband's job. Connecticut law requires an "equitable distribution" of marital assets — not stock automatic split. And "equitable" in the courts often translated into "not nearly as much as 50 percent" for many stay-at-home corporate wives. The other key question was how to value the many unvested General Electric options options, restricted stock and other benefits that Gary had been awarded during the course of an extremely successful career at the company. Gary, who ran GE Capital at a time when that finance arm was company's most profitable division, didn't think she was entitled to any of that deferred compensation after they split. The Wendts, who were high school sweethearts from Wisconsin, had been married for 32 years when Gary decided in that he wanted to separate. Lorna had last worked outside the home inas a public music school teacher, around the time the couple had their first daughter. Her argument was that she had raised their two daughters, took care of their home and also had helped Gary's ascension to CEO by attending charity events, business dinners and other corporate functions over the decades. She later told Fortune"I complemented him by stock the home fires burning and by raising a family and by being CEO of the Wendt corporation and by running the household and grounds and social and emotional ties so he could get out and work very hard at what he was good at. She told The New York Times in"I assumed we would split everything If he wanted to dissolve the marriage, I just assumed I would get 50 percent. Lorna didn't get the amount she was seeking, even after a contentious day trial in an extremely cramped courtroom that featured more than exhibits, multiple expert witnesses and her irritated husband making faces at her lawyer Rutkin from the witness stand. And some of that money represented the estimated value of the deferred compensation, which Gary Wendt's lawyers had argued should not be considered part of the marital estate. Both parties later appealed Tierney's leviathan-like decision, which references, among much else, hotel heiress Leona Helmsley, the Irish poet W. Yeats, King Henry VIII and Claudia Sanders, the wife of Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Harlan Sanders. On the other hand, it was substantial," said Rutkin, who later married his co-counsel in the Wendt divorce, Sally Oldham. Lorna Wendt, who had several grandchildren at the time of her death, stock on to found the Institute for Equality in Marriage, a clearinghouse of divorce-related information, and often spoke out about her case. An active traveler who visited Mount Kiliminjaro and participated in long-distance bicycle rides, Lorna served as vice chairman of the board of directors of Outward Bound International. She also had served several stints on the board of directors Outward Bound USA, and of the Stamford Symphony in Connecticut. He spent just over two years as CEO there before stepping down inshortly before the company filed for bankruptcy protection. Now chairman of the management committee at Deerpath Capital Management, Wendt could not be immediately reached for comment about the passing of his ex-wife. In a BusinessWeek storyhe was quoted saying about Lorna, "I don't lose much sleep over her, as I can't change the fact that she has made the divorce her career. Rutkin, who with his law partner wife stayed friends with her over the years, said he did not believe Lorna kept in contact with Gary because of how bitter their split was. 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Tech Mobile Social Media Enterprise Gaming Cybersecurity Tech Options Video Top Video Latest Video U. Video Asia Video Europe Video CEO Interviews Analyst Interviews Capital Episodes. Primetime CNBC Asia-Pacific CNBC Europe CNBC World Special Reports Top States Trailblazers Trading the World CNBC Disruptor 50 Lasting Legacy Modern Medicine College Game Plan Investing in: Israel Tech Drivers The Brave Ones Trading Nation Shaping the future Future Opportunities. Register Log In Profile Email Preferences PRO Sign Out. Politics Elections White House Congress Law Taxes. Andrew Savulich NY Daily News Getty Images. Former General Electric executive Gary Wendt leaves court in Hartford, Connecticut, on April 4, Rupert Murdoch to marry Mick Jagger's ex Jerry Hall. Gary and Lorna ultimately settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Are you a breadwinner mom? Here's how to capital. And after the divorce case, "I never really heard her talk about him," Rutkin said.
Armed with an X-acto knife, she cuts out her images from a single sheet of paper and creates a language that translates the complex poetry of motherhood, nature and activism into a simple and endearing picture.
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Warley, challenge after challenge was made to these covenants on the ground that they denied the excluded race due process of the laws.
Armed with an X-acto knife, she cuts out her images from a single sheet of paper and creates a language that translates the complex poetry of motherhood, nature and activism into a simple and endearing picture.