Elon Musk Considers Buying Ryanair After Calling Its CEO 'Utter Idiot'

After calling Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary an 'utter idiot' who should be fired, Elon Musk has asked the public if he should buy the airline. Hours after X (formerly Twitter) suffered another outage on Friday (Jan 16), Ryanair took a swipe at Musk by posting, "Perhaps you need Wi-Fi, @elonmusk?", prompting the billionaire to hit back.

"Should I buy Ryan Air and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?" Musk wrote, as the reply instantly went viral, with social media users

"Do it," advised one user, while another joked: "Be careful when you buy them. They'll offer you a low price that will seem too good to be true, and later down the line they'll charge you for all kinds of extras.

A third commented: "Best way to become a millionaire is to be a billionaire and buy an airline."

Should I buy Ryan Air and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2026

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Musk And O'Leary Feud

The alleged feud between Musk and Ryanair started on Wednesday (Jan 14) after O'Leary ruled out installing the Starlink internet device on Ryanair's fleet of more than 600 jets. O'Leary cited the impact of fuel costs from drag caused by the antenna, and estimated the service would cost the airline up to $250 million a year.

“You need to put an antenna on the fuselage; it comes with a 2% fuel penalty because of the weight and drag. We don't think our passengers are willing to pay for WiFi for an average 1-hour flight," said O'Leary.

Musk responded, saying that the Ryanair boss was "misinformed", adding that the airline did not know how to measure the fuel impact of Starlink equipment.

"Ryanair CEO is an utter idiot. Fire him," Musk posted on X. When a follower suggested Musk should buy Ryanair and dismiss O'Leary himself, Musk replied: "Good idea."

Musk argued that connectivity was becoming an expectation rather than a luxury during air travel and that Ryanair will lose customers to airlines that have internet.