Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary reminded Elon Musk that EU law blocks non-Europeans from controlling the airline. He made the remarks in Dublin before the company’s earnings update. The comment followed Musk’s online poll about buying Ryanair.
O’Leary said non-European citizens cannot hold majority control of EU airlines. He added that Musk could still invest as a minority shareholder. O’Leary said Ryanair would welcome such interest. He also joked that Ryanair would deliver better returns than Musk’s platform X. The airline thanked Musk for the extra publicity.
Musk has hinted for days about a possible purchase. He leads Tesla and Starlink and founded SpaceX. He bought X, formerly Twitter, for 44 billion dollars in 2022. Musk also called for O’Leary’s dismissal. He described the Ryanair boss in harsh terms.
The dispute follows O’Leary’s rejection of Starlink for onboard Wi-Fi. He said antennas would raise fuel costs by up to 250 million dollars each year. He also claimed passengers would not pay for the service.
Ryanair holds a market value near 30 billion euros. EU rules require majority European ownership of bloc-based airlines.
