Elon Musk has suggested acquiring Ryanair, intensifying his ongoing dispute with the Irish budget airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary.
The confrontation originated last week when O’Leary dismissed the prospect of equipping Ryanair’s fleet of over 600 aircraft with Starlink, the satellite internet service developed by Musk’s SpaceX. O’Leary argued that the necessary antennas would create aerodynamic drag, increasing fuel consumption by approximately 2 percent and adding between $200 million and $250 million annually to the carrier’s roughly $5 billion kerosene expenditure. He maintained that passengers on short-haul flights would refuse to pay for the service, rendering it uneconomical for a low-cost operator.
Musk countered on X, describing O’Leary’s assessment as misinformed and asserting that the fuel impact had been overstated. The exchange quickly turned personal, with each executive labelling the other an idiot, and Musk calling for O’Leary’s dismissal.
As reported by The Guardian, Musk escalated the matter by polling his followers on whether he should purchase Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, and install “someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge”. He referenced the airline’s late co-founder, Tony Ryan, who died in 2007. A subsequent poll asking if he should “buy Ryan Air and restore Ryan as their rightful ruler” drew affirmative responses from over three-quarters of nearly 900,000 participants. Musk also inquired directly about the cost of acquiring the company in response to mocking posts from Ryanair’s official X account, which had teased him during a brief X outage by suggesting he needed better Wi-Fi.
Such public musings carry weight given Musk’s history. His 2017 query about Twitter’s price preceded a $44 billion acquisition in 2022, which he later rebranded as X.
Ryanair responded in kind, announcing a promotional “Great Idiots” or “Big Idiot” seat sale aimed at Musk and others, while O’Leary indicated he would address the “Twitter tantrum” at a Dublin press conference. The airline’s account continued to highlight its no-frills model, emphasising cost discipline over add-ons like in-flight connectivity.
Market reaction remained muted. Ryanair shares closed nearly 1 percent lower on the day of Musk’s most prominent suggestions, indicating investors viewed the comments as provocative rather than credible. Recent data places the company’s market capitalisation at approximately €30 billion to $36 billion, depending on currency fluctuations and share price movements.
According to Companies Market Cap, Ryanair’s valuation stood at around $36.47 billion in January 2026, reflecting its position as a highly profitable low-cost carrier with strong fundamentals, including expectations of becoming debt-free soon and carrying over 200 million passengers annually.
Any serious bid would face significant regulatory hurdles. EU rules under Regulation 1008/2008 mandate that airlines operating within the bloc must be majority-owned and effectively controlled by EU nationals or those from associated countries like Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, or Switzerland. As a US citizen, Musk could not meet this requirement without restructuring ownership in a manner that preserves the airline’s operating licence, a complex and potentially prohibitive challenge.
The spat underscores broader tensions in aviation over in-flight connectivity. While some carriers, including Lufthansa and British Airways, have adopted Starlink for its high-speed capabilities, budget operators prioritise minimal costs. SpaceX executives have contested the 2 percent drag estimate, suggesting a much lower impact of around 0.3 percent on certain aircraft models, though Ryanair has stood firm on its calculations.
Musk’s net worth, approaching extraordinary levels through ventures in electric vehicles, space exploration, and artificial intelligence, affords him the financial capacity for large-scale acquisitions. However, the combination of regulatory barriers, shareholder dynamics, and Ryanair’s entrenched management make a takeover improbable in the near term.
The episode highlights how social media amplifies disputes between high-profile business leaders, often generating publicity for both parties while rarely translating into concrete corporate action. Ryanair continues to focus on its core strategy of aggressive cost control and expansion, undeterred by the online exchanges.