Elon Musk Proposes Ryanair Acquisition Amid Heated Starlink Dispute
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has provocatively suggested he could purchase budget airline Ryanair, following demands for the dismissal of its chief executive Michael O'Leary. This dramatic escalation stems from an ongoing public feud between the two high-profile figures, centred on the installation of Musk's Starlink satellite internet service across the airline's fleet.
Online Spat Escalates to Takeover Talk
The conflict, which began with disagreements over in-flight connectivity, reached new heights when Musk directly engaged with Ryanair's official account on his social media platform, X. Known for their outspoken and often controversial public personas, both executives have traded increasingly personal barbs in recent exchanges.
In a series of posts replying to the airline, Musk declared his belief that Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary "needs to be fired." The Tesla and SpaceX founder later created a poll asking his 232.5 million followers whether he should "Buy Ryan Air and restore Ryan as their rightful ruler." The informal survey has garnered nearly 900,000 responses, with approximately 76.6 percent voting in favour of the hypothetical acquisition.
Roots of the Conflict: The Wi-Fi Debate
The dispute originated on January 14th when O'Leary publicly dismissed the idea of implementing in-flight Wi-Fi across Ryanair's extensive fleet. The CEO expressed significant concerns about increased fuel consumption, telling Reuters that fitting the necessary antenna to aircraft fuselages would add both weight and aerodynamic drag.
O'Leary estimated this would result in what he described as a "two per cent fuel penalty," translating to an additional cost of $200-250 million annually, or about one dollar per passenger. He argued that Ryanair's customers, primarily taking short-haul flights of around one hour, would be unlikely to pay extra for internet access.
"I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk," O'Leary stated bluntly on Irish radio station Newstalk. "He's an idiot. Very wealthy, but he's still an idiot. What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero." The Ryanair chief concluded that while passengers might use free Wi-Fi, they would not pay even €1 for the service, making the investment unjustifiable for the low-cost carrier.
Exchange of Insults and Platform Outage Mockery
Musk swiftly responded to O'Leary's comments, labelling the Ryanair CEO an "utter idiot" and reiterating his call for dismissal. The official Ryanair social media account further fuelled the fire by replying to a general question about propaganda with "Wi-Fi on planes," prompting Musk's firing demand.
Tensions intensified when a widespread outage on X left American users unable to access the platform. Ryanair's social media team seized the opportunity to mock Musk directly, posting: "Perhaps you need Wi-Fi, @elonmusk?" O'Leary additionally referred to X as a "cesspit" during the heated exchange.
Financial Context and Industry Contrast
While Musk's comments are widely interpreted as provocative rather than a serious acquisition bid, his surprise takeover of Twitter (now X) in 2022 demonstrates his capacity for unexpected corporate moves. Ryanair, listed on the Euronext Dublin index, currently holds a market capitalisation of approximately £26.5 billion.
This valuation stands £8 billion below the £34.5 billion Musk paid for the social media platform. The low-cost airline expects to carry 207 million passengers during the current financial year, operating thousands of short- and medium-haul flights across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East without offering any onboard Wi-Fi to customers.
In stark contrast, Emirates recently announced plans to upgrade its entire fleet with ultra-fast Starlink Wi-Fi, becoming the world's largest international airline to offer the service network-wide. Since November, passengers on select Emirates aircraft have enjoyed free, high-speed internet at 40,000 feet, with the carrier planning to accelerate installations across its 232 Boeing 777 aircraft.
Starlink, developed by Musk's SpaceX, delivers broadband internet through an extensive constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites. Ryanair has been approached for further comment regarding the ongoing public dispute with one of the world's most prominent technology leaders.
