What started as a fairly harmless exchange between two outspoken corporate leaders quickly turned messy and the discussions escalated into swearing and public insults. In the latest twist in the Starlink row, Elon Musk has escalated a war of words with the billionaire CEO of Europe’s biggest airline, Michael O’Leary.
The chief executive of Ryanair Holdings on Wednesday ruled out a proposal to install SpaceX’s Starlink internet across the low-cost airline’s fleet due to fuel costs from the weight and drag of the antenna mounted on the cabin roof.
“You have to put an antenna on the fuselage, which comes with a 2% fuel penalty due to weight and drag,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary told Reuters. “We don’t think our passengers are willing to pay for WiFi on an average 1-hour flight.”
The Irish executive’s comments prompted a swift response from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who said on his X platform that O’Leary was “misinformed” and warned that Ryanair would lose passengers to rival airlines that had already signed up for the service.
An ugly brawl between billionaires
While the real question should have been whether budget-conscious travelers even want high-speed internet on short flights across Europe, the focus has instead shifted to the high-profile public spat between the two business leaders.
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What started as a fairly harmless exchange between two outspoken corporate leaders quickly turned messy and the discussions escalated into swearing and public insults. In the latest twist in the Starlink row, Elon Musk has escalated a war of words with the billionaire CEO of Europe’s biggest airline, Michael O’Leary.
The chief executive of Ryanair Holdings on Wednesday ruled out a proposal to install SpaceX’s Starlink internet across the low-cost airline’s fleet due to fuel costs from the weight and drag of the antenna mounted on the cabin roof.
“You have to put an antenna on the fuselage, which comes with a 2% fuel penalty due to weight and drag,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary told Reuters. “We don’t think our passengers are willing to pay for WiFi on an average 1-hour flight.”
The Irish executive’s comments prompted a swift response from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who said on his X platform that O’Leary was “misinformed” and warned that Ryanair would lose passengers to rival airlines that had already signed up for the service.
An ugly brawl between billionaires
While the real question should have been whether budget-conscious travelers even want high-speed internet on short flights across Europe, the focus has instead shifted to the high-profile public spat between the two business leaders.
After Ryanair’s chief executives decided to opt out of Starlink, the exchange went downhill from there, with O’Leary telling Irish radio station Newstalk on Thursday that Musk knew “zero” about flights and aircraft drag. He also claimed that operating Starlink would cost Ryanair up to $250 million a year.
“I wouldn’t pay any attention to Elon Musk… He’s an idiot, very rich, but still an idiot. O’Leary said during the show.
Musk then hit back on Friday, responding to O’Leary’s remarks by calling him a “complete idiot” and saying he would be fired, further escalating the fight.
One person responded to Musk’s tweet by saying: “Buy Ryanair and dump it yourself,” to which Musk replied: “Good idea.
O’Leary is set to receive a $116 million bonus for his performance
O’Leary, who is due a $116 million bonus in 2028 for meeting performance goals, still controls a fraction of the wealth of Musk, whose vast fortune includes ventures from space exploration to his role as CEO of Tesla Inc, according to Bloomberg data.
Read also | Ryanair has scrapped its frequent flyer program after losing almost €2m in 8 months
Musk then hit back on Friday, responding to O’Leary’s remarks by calling him a “complete idiot” and saying he would be fired, further escalating the fight.
One person responded to Musk’s tweet by saying: “Buy Ryanair and dump it yourself,” to which Musk replied: “Good idea.
O’Leary is set to receive a $116 million bonus for his performance
O’Leary, who is due a $116 million bonus in 2028 for meeting performance goals, still controls a fraction of the wealth of Musk, whose vast fortune includes ventures from space exploration to his role as CEO of Tesla Inc, according to Bloomberg data.
Musk’s current net worth recently surpassed $700 billion, surpassing the combined wealth of the other three tech billionaires on the list, including Google’s Larry Page, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. He surpasses Larry Page alone by nearly $500 billion.
