US tech boss Elon Musk has asked followers on his social network X to buy Ryanair, sparking a clash with the airline’s boss Michael O’Leary over using the Starlink system on board to access the internet.
By Tuesday at the latest, the low-cost airline Ryanair had not responded to a request from AFP to respond to the poll, published on Monday, with more than 900,000 participants.
Musk, who founded Tesla and heads Starlink – a satellite internet system developed by his space company SpaceX – has suggested for days that he might buy Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline.
He has also called for O’Leary’s sacking, describing him as “a real idiot”.
The feud between the pair, both known for their provocative outbursts, began after O’Leary gave an interview to Irish radio station Newstalk.
The Irishman ruled out using Starlink to equip its fleet with Wi-Fi, estimating it would cost up to $250 million a year by increasing the drag of aerials on its planes and burning more fuel.
Ryanair passengers would not pay for the internet service either, he said.
“What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero … I honestly wouldn’t pay attention to anything Elon Musk puts on his departure well named X,” he said.
“He’s an idiot; very rich, but still an idiot,” he added.
Ryanair’s market capitalization is almost EUR 30 billion (USD 35 billion).
However, European rules require that an airline based in the EU is majority owned by EU citizens (or citizens of other European countries).
Elon Musk paid $44 billion to buy Twitter in 2022, which he later renamed X.
