Michael O’Leary and Elon Musk have been exchanging accusations for days. The situation does not worry Ryanair’s CEO, who is grateful for the “fantastic publicity” that is increasing the airline’s sales.
This Wednesday, a new chapter arrived. The CEO of Ryanair addressed the topic at a press conference, in which he thanked the owner of SpaceX, Tesla and X for the airline’s increased sales after the exchange of accusations between the two.
“If this is what happens when they call me an idiot, then they can do it every day,” said Michael O’Leary, claiming that the “Twitter tantrum” (X’s former name) has been “fantastic advertising” for Ryanair’s revenue, which has grown by 2% to 3% in recent days.
The company’s executive director low cost said he was not affected by Musk’s insults, who called him an “idiot” and “insufferable”. “I am regularly insulted at home by my four teenage children. This is nothing new”he revealed, in an ironic tone.
This Tuesday, on X, Ryanair announced a promotional campaign called “The Big Promotion for Idiots”, in response to the multimillionaire’s attacks.
Elon Musk threatened to buy Ryanair
The confrontation began last week, when O’Leary was asked about the possibility of equipping Ryanair’s fleet of around 650 planes with the Starlink satellite internet system, owned by Musk, similar to what companies like Lufthansa or British Airways have already done.
O’Leary outright rejected the idea, claiming that the installation of antennas would increase aerodynamic drag by 2%, which would translate into an increase of between 200 and 250 million dollars per year in the fuel bill.
On his X platform, Musk considered the analysis “wrong” and began an escalation of insults. The two businessmen exchanged accusations, called each other “idiots” and, at one point, Musk even argued that O’Leary should be fired.
The controversy took on another dimension last Friday, when the founder of Tesla and SpaceX asked his millions of followers a question: should he buy Ryanair, valued at around 30 billion euros?
At Thursday’s press conference, O’Leary said that Ryanair “is a listed company” and anyone is “free to buy shares whenever they want.”
However, Musk, born in South Africa and with North American citizenship, does not meet the ownership requirements imposed by the European Union, which require that airlines based in the bloc be majority owned by citizens of the European Union or associated countries, such as Switzerland or Norway.
