Elon Musk hints at buying Ryanair amid Starlink spat

Elon Musk attends the Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, in Washington.

U.S. tech boss Elon Musk has polled followers on his social network X about buying Ryanair, stoking a clash with the airline’s boss Michael O’Leary over using the Starlink system onboard to use the internet.

By late Tuesday, lowcost carrier Ryanair had not replied to a request from AFP to respond to the poll that was posted Monday, with more than 900,000 participants.

Musk, who founded Tesla and heads Starlink -- a satellite internet system developed by his aerospace company SpaceX -- has been suggesting for days that he might buy Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline.

He has also called for O’Leary’s firing, 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 his fleet with wifi, estimating it would cost up to $250 million a year by increasing the drag from aerial antennae on its planes and burning more fuel.

Ryanair’s passengers would also not want to pay for the internet service, he said.

“What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero ... I frankly wouldn’t pay any attention to anything Elon Musk puts on that cesspit of his called X,” he said.

“He’s an idiot; very rich, but still an idiot,” he added.

Ryanair’s market capitalization stands at nearly €30 billion ($35 billion).

European regulations, however, require that an airline based in the EU be majority-owned by EU nationals (or nationals of other European countries).

Elon Musk shelled out $44 billion to buy Twitter in 2022, which he later renamed X.