The ever-busy public relations bods at top family firms had a struggle last week to find a promotional angle in the Bill and Melinda Gates divorce. After all, the headline fact about the $100bn break-up was that it is amicable, with both parties eschewing the legal route (while retaining heavyweight teams of attorneys, just in case).

One firm came up with the startling insight that, if the couple were to split their wealth 50/50 ‘it would see Bill Gates, one of the world’s wealthiest men, lose a large proportion of his wealth’. Half, in fact?

Another firm urged potential clients to emulate Bill and Melinda rather than adopting a ‘litigious vitriol-fuelled approach’. However it noted that England and Wales’ ‘archaic’ divorce laws do not align with the collaborative way of doing things.

Come on, people, you can do better than that. Or are we waiting for the almost inevitable courtroom fireworks to begin?

Topics