To recap briefly: when Espinasse joined Vivendi in 2002, the French media giant was in a dreadful state. In transforming the business from a utility into a media-led conglomerate, it had run up £24bn in borrowings. Worse, it had been accused by the SEC of committing ‘multiple violations of the anti-fraud, books and records, internal controls and reporting provisions of the federal securities law’.

Given that damning account, it’s little surprise to read this morning that French prosecutors have received a report from financial investigators on its accounting practices.

But addressing a room full of CFOs in 2005, Espinasse was willing to air his dirty linen in public admitting the lengths to which he would go to placate Vivendi’s creditors. ‘When one banker gets scared, he scares other bankers,’ he said. ‘And when a big company is in trouble, the rules of the game change and they send you the special affairs guys. In addition, you don’t only talk to bankers, you talk to lawyers.’

To begin what has been a remarkably successful turnaround he needed to persuade them to be patient – a costly exercise in terms of bank charges.

‘I wanted to buy time,’ he said. ‘You don’t restore confidence with just a click of your fingers.’

But – and here’s a lesson as relevant in 2008 as it was for Vivendi five years ago – that gave him a chance to sell some of the company’s larger assets without resorting to a fire sale.

If you are unlucky enough to have to deal the special affairs guys in the 12 months ahead be prepared to pay for their patience.