Messier himself seems to have got a bit tangled up by the book, which is self-mockingly titled after his nickname on French television (Jean-Marie Messier, Himself the Master of the World). He bangs on in the book about how French companies must accept that petty nationalism has no place in French business life. 'The age of companies being national treasures like Chartres cathedral are passed,' he declares, adding that he cannot stand the opaque nature of business in France.

Odd then that last week, when he tidied Vivendi's corporate governance structure to keep US investors happy with his bid for Seagram, he declined to abolish the voting restrictions on minority shareholders, which could help block a hostile takeover in future. A call to Vivendi received… no reply