Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has suggested he could buy budget airline Ryanair, escalating a public war of words with the carrier’s outspoken chief executive, Michael O’Leary. Musk fired back on his X platform, describing O’Leary’s claims as “misinformed,” triggering a tit-for-tat exchange in which both men traded insults. Ryanair was co-founded in 1984 by Irish billionaire Tony Ryan, who died in 2007. The row initially flared after O’Leary told Irish radio station Newstalk that he would ignore Musk’s views on aviation technology. Tony Ryan, the Irish billionaire businessman who co-founded the budget airline in 1984, died in 2007.

Source: Punch January 21, 2026 12:13 UTC