The Indianapolis Star
July 23, 2000

Business-savvy Lorna Wendt is every bit as capable as ex
By Ruth Holladay

While Gary Wendt is busy trying to turn Conseco around on the cushion of a very nice compensation package, ex-wife Lorna Jorgenson Wendt has quite another mission.

It's the Equality in Marriage Institute.

Never heard of it? That's probably because you are not a corporate wife who has been spurned and lived to tell about it, or even a guy caught in a messy and potentially bank-breaking divorce.

But stick around. A branch of the institute, now based in Manhattan, could be coming soon to a town near you. And for that you can thank the ex-Mrs. Wendt, 57, who has every bit as much moxie as Gary Wendt, 58, and something more besides: the zeal of the missionary on a near-holy crusade.

You gotta love her message: equality in marriage and divorce, 50-50.

Those calculations explain why she was back in court earlier this month in Stamford, Conn., where the Wendts lived when he ran GE Capital, pre-Conseco. The archetypal brilliant businessman, he upped profits at GE from $300 million to $4 billion in 15 years. She was equally impressive: the hostess with the mostest, the Wendt family CEO, the living embodiment of the old saw, "Behind every successful man, there is a woman."

But when the couple divorced in 1998 after 32 years of marriage -- his request -- and she received $20 million rather than the $50 million she wanted, it did not fit her standards of fairness. So she founded the institute.

And kept her hand in the legal proceedings, which explains the appeal filed this month: She is seeking an additional $35 million, as well as unvested benefits that he claimed were valueless during their divorce proceedings.

No word yet on whether she will go after his Conseco gravy.

OK, OK, the rich are different from you and I -- but one aspect of the Wendts' story cuts across the board. It's what Mrs. Wendt has brought to the table, and it's better than the exquisite home-baked pies she was once well-known for serving, when she was Mrs. Corporate Wife.

So down with strudel; her thing now is fairness. And before you reach for your gun, having heard the word "feminist," this is not a women's issue, honey, although institute director Ellen Sabin concedes initially it was. "There was a lot of 'You go, girl.' "

Today, however, the institute is gender-blind. "We have a high preponderance of wealthy women and men, but we also hear from individuals who are destitute and living in vans," says Sabin. "It is the gamut of people who are married."

So what does the institute do?

First, it's nonprofit, so do not expect to spend a dime if you do seek it out as a resource (equalityinmarriage. com ). Second, it encourages you to educate yourself: pre-nups, divorce laws in your state, the meaning of marriage, the value of individual contributions in a relationship, and how to assess them.

Mainly, it promotes Mrs. Wendt, because she resonates: She is dignified and determined.

"Lorna learned a lot going through the end of her marriage. . . . And because she is a strong and spiritual individual, she is willing to share it," says Sabin.

Hence you may have caught her on Oprah recently, or 20/20, or read about her in Fortune, People, Forbes or The Wall Street Journal.

All of which leaves me with one thought.

Maybe Gary Wendt will save Conseco; maybe he won't. But if his little deal doesn't work out, maybe the board will be smart enough to hire Mrs. Wendt.