Elon Musk has floated the idea of buying Ryanair, escalating a public spat with the airline's chief executive, Michael O'Leary. The Tesla and SpaceX boss clashed with O'Leary after the Ryanair chief rejected installing Starlink satellite internet technology on the carrier's fleet of 650 aircraft, citing a 2% fuel drag that would add $200m-$250m to its annual kerosene bill.
Musk called O'Leary's interpretation 'misinformed' on his X platform, prompting an exchange of insults. O'Leary labelled Musk an 'idiot' on Irish radio, while Musk responded by calling O'Leary an 'idiot' and suggesting he should be fired. On Friday, Musk posted a poll asking his followers whether he should buy Ryanair and put someone named Ryan in charge, with over three-quarters of nearly 900,000 respondents voting yes.
Ryanair's X account mocked Musk after an X outage, posting: 'Perhaps you need Wi-Fi @elonmusk?' Musk replied: 'How much would it cost to buy you?' The billionaire has followed through on such threats before, buying Twitter in 2022 for $44bn after a similar exchange. However, Ryanair shares closed nearly 1% down on Tuesday, suggesting investors are not taking the idea seriously.
Any takeover would face regulatory hurdles, as EU rules require airlines based in the bloc to be majority-owned by EU nationals. Musk, a South African-born US citizen, would need to navigate these restrictions. The row began when O'Leary told Irish radio he would 'pay no attention whatsoever' to Musk, adding that Musk knows 'zero' about flights and drag.
