Elon Musk Jokes About Buying Ryanair After Online Spat With CEO — But Markets Start Paying Attention

An online spat over Starlink turns into takeover chatter, sending retail sentiment on Ryanair soaring.

• Musk jokingly floated a takeover bid for Ryanair after CEO Michael O'Leary slammed him over Starlink Wi-Fi.
• Ryanair's $36B market cap is less than 5% of Musk's net worth.
• Prediction markets are also rife with speculation, although bettors are not too optimistic.

Tesla, Inc. CEO Elon Musk is once again floating the idea of adding to his sprawling business empire — this time by buying an airline — following a public spat online.

Musk has teased the possibility of acquiring low-cost carrier Ryanair after its CEO, Michael O'Leary, dismissed the idea of installing SpaceX's Starlink on the airline's aircraft and called the billionaire an "idiot."

Taking to X, Musk posted a poll asking users whether he should buy Ryanair and "restore a Ryan as their rightful ruler." Nearly 78% of respondents voted in favor, while the rest voted against. As of 8 p.m. ET on Monday, the poll had attracted 595,350 votes and more than 19.3 million views on X, formerly Twitter, which Musk himself acquired in 2022 for $44 billion after a prolonged, contentious takeover.

The Musk-O'Leary Spat

The back-and-forth began last week during a podcast interview with an Irish radio company, where O'Leary dismissed Musk's comments on in-flight Wi-Fi, saying the Tesla CEO knew nothing about aviation or the drag-related challenges of installing in-flight connectivity.

"I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk — he's an idiot," O'Leary said, adding that while Musk is "very wealthy," he is "still an idiot."

O'Leary argued that installing Starlink would be expensive, estimating annual costs of $200 million to $250 million. He said the added expense, which roughly equates to an extra dollar per passenger, would not be viable, as customers are unwilling to pay for in-flight internet.

Musk fired back on X late last week, calling O'Leary "an utter idiot" and suggesting he be fired. That exchange prompted users to suggest that Musk simply buy the airline himself and implement the changes.

Interestingly, the episode echoes how Musk was egged on (largely in jest) by former Business Insider editor Dave Smith back in 2017 to buy Twitter after Musk publicly professed his love for the platform. "How much is it?" Musk replied sarcastically at the time, though what began as a joke became far more serious within five years.

As expected, prediction markets are also rife with speculation. On Polymarket, bettors are giving a 12% chance of the deal actually happening, while those on Kalshi are more optimistic, predicting a 23% possibility.

Ryanair Fires Back

Ryanair later joined the online sparring. In response to a post asking what piece of propaganda it would never fall for, the airline replied bluntly: "Wi-Fi on planes."

In response to Musk's poll, one user urged him not to dismantle Ryanair's social media team, a move Musk carried out after acquiring Twitter. "Their social media team is great. They're all getting bonuses and, of course, free Starlink," Musk responded.

What Is Retail Thinking?

One Stocktwits user said that if Musk were to buy Ryanair, they would buy the stock as well.

U.S.-listed shares of Ryanair have gained nearly 64% over the past 12 months and currently carry a market capitalization of $35.84 billion — less than 5% of Musk's net worth, according to the latest Forbes estimates.

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