I think the most Smith ever made was $1.5 million a year. How in the world do you get $40 mil in debt on such a salary? That's like someone making $50,000 a year getting $1,300,000 in debt.
Credit scores are only as good as the people reporting to them. Also, the only thing (if your credit is great) that would tip a lender off is the "all of a sudden" increase in inquiries. HTH