Prophetic boss Carlos hardly expected this

NISSAN and Renault chairman Carlos Ghosn, now helping Japanese prosecutors with their enquiries for under-reporting his pay, penned a rather self-satisfied piece in the notoriously punchpulling Nikkei in September.

Entitled My Personal History, he wrote: “When you’ve been in business as long as I have, you build a global network of contacts and receive invitations to events dealing with global issues.

“I always look forward to attending the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.”

Spy wonders whether he’ll be free for next year’s get-together.

Ghosn airily adds he’s “exchanged ideas frequently with British prime ministers, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron” because of Nissan’s investment in Sunderland and has “continued this positive association” with Theresa May. He also wrote that “unexpected things always have a way of coming up”. Wise words, Carlos.

HARD to say what the most shocking aspect of Ghosn’s sudden fall from grace is.

Partly there is the fact that a man who had insisted on transparency and frank, open dialogue at Nissan, a total shock in Japan’s tightly controlled culture, should be accused of underreporting his pay to the authorities.

But there are also his claims to have lived such a disciplined, well-ordered life: as he once boasted “almost like a monk” — a monk on $6 million

(£4.7 million) a year, perhaps.

SAINSBURY’S splashed out on its Christmas dinner at The Ivy last night, where the grocer’s top bosses dined with the business media, but Argos chief John Rogers was nowhere to be seen. He was unwell, Spy hears. It must be Black Friday preparations taking their toll.