Finance
Ryanair's O'Leary shrugs off Elon Musk takeover threat as feud rumbles on
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 21, 2026
4 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 21, 2026
4 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Ryanair's CEO O'Leary invites Elon Musk to invest, despite a public spat that increased bookings by 2-3%. Non-European citizens face ownership restrictions.
By Conor Humphries
DUBLIN, Jan 21 (Reuters) - As Europe and the U.S. face off in Davos over Donald Trump's threat to take over Greenland, two of the regions' most outspoken business leaders - Michael O'Leary and Elon Musk - are waging a trolling war of their own over Starlink.
The feud erupted last week after Ryanair boss O'Leary ruled out using Musk's Starlink internet service on his fleet of more than 600 jets, prompting the U.S. billionaire to call him an "utter idiot".
At a Dublin news conference on Wednesday - billed by Ryanair as responding to "Musk's latest Twitshit" - O'Leary dismissed a suggestion by Musk that he might buy the airline and replace him, though said he would welcome an investment.
O'Leary said he had no issue with being called an idiot, but derided Musk's claim that Starlink antennas would not create drag on an aircraft as "a stupid idiotic thing to say".
The airline boss, who said the spat was boosting bookings, has estimated that using Starlink could cost Ryanair up to $250 million a year, including extra fuel.
MUSK 'CAN'T TAKE CONTROL' OF RYANAIR
Ryanair would be open to investment from the world's richest person, but a takeover is impossible under European Union rules restricting foreign airline ownership, O'Leary said on Wednesday.
"If he wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it's a very good investment," O'Leary said, adding the returns would be better than those from Musk's social media platform X. "Mr Musk is welcome to buy shares, but he can't take control."
Musk has in recent days suggested he might buy Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers and "put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge". He ran a poll on X in which three-quarters of respondents backed the idea.
ANTI-MUSK BUMP TO BOOKINGS?
Responding to what he called Musk's "Twitter tantrum", O'Leary said the publicity was giving bookings a "wonderful boost".
"They're up about 2% or 3% in the last five days, which, given our volumes, is a very significant boost," he said. He later told a reporter that bookings for January to March, the final quarter of Ryanair's financial year, were strong.
Ryanair shares were up 2% on Wednesday but have moved little overall during the feud, suggesting most investors are not taking Musk's takeover musings seriously. The billionaire, however, did consult his social media followers before buying X, formerly Twitter.
O'Leary said he had held talks with Starlink for 12 months while evaluating onboard WiFi but concluded the cost was too high. He said Ryanair sought a provider willing to fund installation, and that the two sides sharply disagreed on passenger uptake.
"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.
TARIFF HEADACHE AHEAD?
O'Leary, whose airline is due to report results for the final three months of 2025 on Monday, said average fares may rise between 2% and 4% in the coming year amid tight capacity in Europe, but added: "We haven't a clue yet."
Asked about the risk of an EU-U.S. trade war following Trump's threat to impose escalating tariffs over Greenland, O'Leary said it was too soon to say what the impact might be on consumer demand.
Asked whether he was confident Boeing would absorb the cost of any new tariffs on U.S. aircraft deliveries to Europe, he replied: "I'm not."
(Reporting by Conor Humphries. Writing by Sarah Young. Editing by Paul Sandle and Mark Potter)
An investment is the allocation of resources, usually money, to generate income or profit. It can involve purchasing assets like stocks, bonds, or real estate.
Corporate governance refers to the systems, principles, and processes by which companies are directed and controlled. It ensures accountability and fairness in a company's relationship with its stakeholders.
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