Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary fired back at Elon Musk’s recent suggestion that he might buy the airline, escalating a feud between the two as they continue trading insults and jabs.
O’Leary, the head of Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, dismissed Musk’s assertion that he might try to buy the company and replace him.
“If he wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it’s a very good investment,” O’Leary said at a Dublin news conference, according to Reuters. “Mr. Musk is welcome to buy shares, but he can’t take control.”
O’Leary added that European Union rules prohibit foreign ownership of the airline, and Musk was born in South Africa and is based in the United States.
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The comments came after Musk suggested he might buy the airline and “put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge,” including running a poll on X in which roughly 75% of respondents backed his idea.
The quarrel between the Irish businessman and one of the world’s richest men has been simmering for days, after O’Leary said last week that his airline would not be adding Starlink satellite Wi-Fi on Ryanair planes, Reuters reported.
Musk then accused the airline boss of being “misinformed,” to which O’Leary shot back on an Irish radio station, saying, “I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk, he’s an idiot.”
Musk hit back at O’Leary in an X post, calling him an “utter idiot” and an “imbecile,” before floating the idea of buying the airline.
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At the news conference — which Ryanair said would be a response to “Musk’s latest Twits–t” — O’Leary brushed off the name-calling by saying the SpaceX CEO would have to join a long line of people, including his children, who have already insulted him.
He then thanked Musk for the “additional publicity.”
Some airlines, including Qatar Airways, Canada’s WestJet and Hawaiian Airlines, have moved ahead with Starlink Wi-Fi, but O’Leary said he believes few Ryanair passengers would be willing to pay extra for the service on shorter flights.
“The Starlink people believe that 90% of our passengers would happily pay for WiFi access. Our experience, sadly tells us we think less than 10% of our passengers would pay for this access,” he said.
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