Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has fired back at Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul he's been exchanging barbs with over the past week. In a tongue-in-cheek move, Ryanair is offering 100,000 discounted one-way flights for just €16.99, with the airline dubbing it the "Big Idiot Seat Sale" - a cheeky jab aimed squarely at Musk.
O'Leary's verbal sparring with Musk began when he dismissed the idea of installing Starlink internet on Ryanair planes, citing concerns over fuel costs and weight. However, in a surprise twist, O'Leary has revealed that his airline did explore equipping its jets with Starlink's service, including meetings with executives from SpaceX.
When Musk called out O'Leary as an "idiot", the CEO shot back, saying he's free to launch a takeover bid for Ryanair - but notes that rules bar non-European citizens, like Musk, from owning a majority stake in a European airline. O'Leary also quipped that if Musk wants to invest in his airline, it would be a "very good investment" compared to what he's earning on social media platform X.
The row between the two industry heavyweights has been entertaining, with Musk taking to X to poll his followers on whether they'd buy Ryanair and put O'Leary at the helm. But for now, it seems O'Leary is having the last laugh - at least when it comes to booking a discounted seat on his airline.
O'Leary's verbal sparring with Musk began when he dismissed the idea of installing Starlink internet on Ryanair planes, citing concerns over fuel costs and weight. However, in a surprise twist, O'Leary has revealed that his airline did explore equipping its jets with Starlink's service, including meetings with executives from SpaceX.
When Musk called out O'Leary as an "idiot", the CEO shot back, saying he's free to launch a takeover bid for Ryanair - but notes that rules bar non-European citizens, like Musk, from owning a majority stake in a European airline. O'Leary also quipped that if Musk wants to invest in his airline, it would be a "very good investment" compared to what he's earning on social media platform X.
The row between the two industry heavyweights has been entertaining, with Musk taking to X to poll his followers on whether they'd buy Ryanair and put O'Leary at the helm. But for now, it seems O'Leary is having the last laugh - at least when it comes to booking a discounted seat on his airline.
. I think O'Leary's response about offering super cheap flights just to get back at Musk is genius 
. It's like he's saying, "You want a piece of me? Okay, here's a ticket for €16.99 - take it or leave it!" The airline's marketing team must be having a blast coming up with all these cheeky promotions 
. On a more serious note, though, I do wonder what sparked this whole thing in the first place... was it just a case of two big egos going at it, or is there something else at play? 
. And honestly, I'm kinda curious what would happen if Elon did try to buy out Ryanair - it'd be a wild ride 
! O'Leary's got some good one-liners too, like that comment about X being a better investment for Musk 
. Anyway, I'm loving this back-and-forth between these two CEOs - it's like a real-life game of corporate rock-paper-scissors 
!
like who needs a regular old normal CEO when you can just have some witty banter with Elon Musk?! 
€16.99 for a one-way flight? no thanks, give me the full Ryanair experience for like €500 or something 
I mean, if Elon wants to invest in Ryanair, like, go for it or something 
but let's be real, O'Leary is probably just enjoying all this drama from afar, sipping on a coffee and thinking "hehe, gotcha" 
️
. I mean, what's really going on here? It's all about control and manipulation. O'Leary's cheap seats are like a Trojan horse - people will bite at the bait because it looks too good to be true, but really they're just handing over their personal info to Ryanair. And Musk thinks he can outsmart him by polling his followers on whether they want to invest? Please, that's just a distraction from the real agenda: who really owns the airline? 
. I'm still wondering if this is just a prank or if Ryanair really did explore Starlink internet on their planes... either way, it's all about the drama 
. maybe even an unexpected partnership with musk himself 
. anyway, who needs a stable income when u can make headlines for pennies? 
100k flights for just €16.99? Yaaas, pls bring it on! 
and btw can u imagine if musk actually tried to take over ryanair lol 
️ Oh man, this is getting good! I mean, who doesn't love a good #CEOvsTechMagnate showdown? 
And can we talk about how petty Elon Musk is being, trying to get under O'Leary's skin? 
Like, if you want to invest in Ryanair, just offer him a deal and be done with it, bruv! 
Who knew a business dispute could turn into an internet meme fest? 
Like, no thanks Elon, we don't need your input 
. But seriously though, it's good to see these big players in the airline industry having a bit of fun with each other - keeps things interesting! 
and btw, has anyone else noticed how silly Musk's poll on X was? 