After Spat With CEO, Musk Proposes Buying Ryanair

Elon Musk, budget airline boss? The Tesla and SpaceX chief is publicly toying with the notion of buying Ryanair after a spat with the Irish airline's combative boss, Michael O'Leary, the Guardian reports. The row started when O'Leary was asked if he'd join European rivals Lufthansa and British Airways in adding Musk's Starlink satellite internet to Ryanair's 650-strong fleet. He dismissed the idea on Irish radio, calling Musk "an idiot" and arguing that Starlink antennas would increase fuel burn by about 2%, adding as much as $250 million a year to the carrier's fuel bill. O'Leary also called Musk's X platform a "cesspit," Politico reports.

Musk fired back on X, where the two traded insults and calls for each other's ouster. Musk insisted O'Leary was "misinformed." He then asked his followers whether he should buy Europe's largest airline, posting, "Should I buy Ryan Air and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?" Airline co-founder Tony Ryan died in 2007. A follow-up poll on X asking if he should "restore Ryan as their rightful ruler" drew close to 900,000 votes, with more than three-quarters backing the idea. Ryanair's social media team joined in, mocking X during a recent outage with the jab: "Perhaps you need Wi-Fi @elonmusk?" Musk replied by asking: "How much would it cost to buy you?"

Markets appear unconvinced that $35 billion takeover is in the works: Ryanair shares dipped nearly 1% on Tuesday. Any real bid would run into more than shareholder skepticism—European Union rules require its airlines to be majority-owned by citizens of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein, the BBC reports. Musk, who holds South African, Canadian, and American citizenship, would not qualify.

Still, Musk has turned online musings into megadeals before, the Guardian notes. In 2017, he responded to a suggestion that he buy Twitter with "How much is it?" and closed a $44 billion purchase of the platform nearly five years later. The spat continued Tuesday evening with a post on X from Ryanair. "Perhaps Musk needs a break??" the airline said. "Ryanair is launching a Great Idiots seat sale especially for Elon and any other idiots on X." The airline said it was offering 100,000 one-way tickets for the equivalent of $20, adding: "Buy now before Musk gets one!!!"