Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary on Elon Musk: "I suspect he's a bigger idiot than me"
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary offered Elon Musk a free flight as part of a "big idiot" promotion by the discount carrier, the company's tongue-in-cheek retort after the airline executive and technology mogul traded insults earlier this week.
"I suspect he's a bigger idiot than me, but nevertheless, he probably thinks I am a bigger idiot than him," O'Leary said on Wednesday during an hour-long press conference in Dublin, where Ryanair is based.
The two have publicly sparred after O'Leary said he would not install WiFi gear from Starlink, the Musk-owned maker of satellite internet gear, on Ryanair planes out of concern that the extra weight from the system's antennas would drive up fuel costs.
"It is a terrific system. It works very well," O'Leary said. "The problem is if you put it on board aircraft, there is a cost of that of about $200 million, $250 million a year, including the cost of installation and then the fuel drag."
Starlink did not respond to a request for comment. Musk's SpaceX company developed Starlink to provide internet connectivity, launching its first batch of satellites in 2019.
Ryanair declined to comment. The airline seized on the brouhaha on Tuesday to launch what it called a "big idiot seat sale," offering 100,000 seats for 16.99 Euros for one-way fares.
"Ryanair is launching a Great idiot seat sale especially for Elon Musk and any other idiots on X," Ryanair posted on X on Tuesday. "Buy now before Musk gets one!!!"
O'Leary said Wednesday that Ryanair had explored equipping its jets with Starlink's service, including meeting with executives from the telecom company, but ultimately rejected the idea.
After O'Leary relayed that decision last week, Musk said on social media that the airline leader was "misinformed." O'Leary subsequently told an Irish radio station that "I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk, he's an idiot."
In response, Musk took to X, his social media platform, to deride O'Leary as an "utter idiot" and an "imbecile." Musk — the world's richest person, with a net worth of nearly $700 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — also launched a poll jestingly asking his followers whether he should buy Ryanair "and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?"
O'Leary, who has led Ryanair as CEO for more than three decades, said on Wednesday that Musk is free to launch a takeover bid for the airline, while noting that rules bar non-European citizens from owning a majority stake in a European airline.
"But if he wants to invest in Ryanair, we would think it's a very good investment," O'Leary said. "Certainly a significantly better investment than the financial returns he's earning on X."
