Food for thought for corporate couples in the outcome of the high profile divorce case of General Electric Capital Corp chief executive, Mr Gary Wendt (55), which gave his wife of 31 years, Mrs Lorna Jorgenson Wendt, assets of more than $17 million (£11.7 million) plus yearly alimony of $252,000.

Mrs Wendt's claim that the important marital principle of equality was at stake sparked a national debate in the US over the role of corporate wives.

The settlement was well in excess of the $11 million offer she had previously rejected but far below the roughly $50 million she had sought.

She and her husband were former high-school sweethearts from a small town in Wisconsin. They separated in December 1995.

Mrs Wendt (54), had sought half the value of an estate she claimed was worth $100 million but her husband always argued he was worth far less.