Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has said Elon Musk would be unable to buy the airline outright because EU rules prevent non-European citizens from owning a majority stake in the continent's airlines.
In recent days, the two billionaires have engaged in a public war of words after Mr O’Leary said his airline would not be using Mr Musk’s Starlink wifi services onboard Ryanair flights.
Speaking to The Hard Shoulder, Mr O’Leary said Starlink did not represent good value for money and personally insulted Mr Musk, who he said knew “zero” about flights.
“We've already had Boeing confirm we have to put an aerial antenna on top of the aircraft; now, that will cost us about a 2% fuel drag,” he explained.
“He was the guy who advocated getting Donald Trump elected,” he said.
“I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk. He's an idiot - very wealthy, but he's still an idiot.”
In response, Mr Musk branded Mr O’Leary an “utter idiot” and speculated he would buy Ryanair in order to sack him.
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At a Ryanair press conference in Dublin today, Mr O’Leary said he held no hard feelings towards Mr Musk and said anyone with teenage children was “frequently called an idiot and a twat at home”.
However, he warned that while Ryanair was a publicly owned company, America’s richest man would find it difficult to buy a majority share.
“Non-European citizens cannot own a majority in European airlines,” he explained.
“But if he wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it's a very good investment.
“Certainly a significantly better investment than the financial returns he's earning on X.”
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Michael O’Leary shrugs off Musk-Ryanair row
Mr O’Leary admitted that he loves “PR spats” and that Mr Musk’s remarks had generated a lot of publicity for Ryanair’s ‘Big Idiot Sale’, advertising 100,000 tickets on sale for €16.99.
He continued that as a thank you, the company would drop by X’s headquarters in Dublin with a free ticket for Mr Musk.
“He doesn't even have to pay the €16.99, a free Ryanair ticket, to thank him for the wonderful boost in publicity, which has seen our bookings rise significantly,” he said.
“They're up about 2% or 3% in the last five days, which, given our volumes, is a very significant boost.
“So, thank you to Mr Musk.”
Mr O’Leary ended by reiterating his criticism of X, describing the platform as a “cesspit” and calling for a ban on anonymous social media accounts.
