What did Michael O'Leary say about Elon Musk in 'savage' Ryanair press conference

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary took aim at tech billionaire Elon Musk in a press conference described by one attendee as "savage" on Wednesday.

The ever-provocative O’Leary launched a Ryanair 'big idiot' seat sale in honour of Musk who criticised the airline's decision not to add Starlink Wi-Fi aerials to aircraft. He later joked about possibly buying Ryanair and installing the satellite dishes from his own company onboard.

Mr O'Leary said on Wednesday that Elon Musk can insult him “all day, every day” if it helps to boost Ryanair sales. He insisted sales have jumped by as much as 3% in the few days since the largely online row began.

Mr Musk called Mr O’Leary an “idiot” and “chimp” in stinging X posts. This followed O'Leary calling Musk an idiot during a Newstalk radio interview.

At the press conference, Mr O’Leary said Mr Musk cannot own Ryanair as he not an EU citizen, but he said he could invest in Ryanair and that would be a “significantly better investment” than X.

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He then thanked Mr Musk for the “significant” boost in sales for Ryanair.

“All I would say to Elon Musk is he would have to join the back of a very, very, very, very long queue of people who already think I’m a retarded twat, including my four teenage children,” Mr O’Leary said at a press conference in Dublin.

“If he wants to call me an idiot, he wouldn’t be the first, and he certainly won’t be the last to call me an idiot or a retarded twat. But if it helps to boost Ryanair sales, you could insult me all day, every day.”

He said that the “PR spat” had driven a 2-3% increase in sales in the last five days.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary addresses his row with Elon Musk.

On X, Musk called him 'an utter idiot and insufferable chimp'.

In response, O'Leary has launched a 'big idiot seat sale'.

He also says Musk is welcome to 'invest' in the airline. https://t.co/ozrwIXK2Ob pic.twitter.com/hWDAQow6c7

— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 21, 2026

He added: “We’re very happy to continue the controversy. I welcome the accusation that I’m a chimp, it’s somewhat unfair on the chimp community, but chimp, chump, as long as it increases Ryanair bookings through January, February and March, it’s all good fun and entertainment.”

He said a Ryanair ticket would be delivered to X’s offices in Dublin on Wednesday to thank Mr Musk for the “wonderful boost in publicity”.

“I’m sure it does wonders for Elon Musk and his X, or whatever subscribers he has on X as well, to be fighting with somebody.

“But as long as it doesn’t involve safety, and we’ve never compromised on safety, any of these spats are great for bookings and great for awareness all over Europe.”

Mr O’Leary said the company had been engaging with Mr Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system for 12 months about introducing WiFi on flights.

He said while Starlink is a “terrific” system, installing it would mean putting aerials on aircrafts that would result in fuel drag at a cost of €100-€200 million.

Don’t thank us, thank that big “IDIOT” @elonmusk

Sale now onhttps://t.co/0c6IvsKyyB pic.twitter.com/JAxRNzaYTa

— Ryanair (@Ryanair) January 20, 2026

He also said that while Starlink insist 90% of passengers would pay for WiFi, Ryanair estimate that less than 10% would pay for the cost – of €2 to €3.

“If Starlink wants to fit our aircrafts and pay for the fuel drag, we’d happily put them on board.

“But the only way we see Starlink working on board short-term flights is if you give it away for free, and like most things in life, if you give it away for free, passengers will use it.”