New Delhi: Elon Musk has once again grabbed global attention by taking a business dispute to social media, this time involving Europe’s largest low-cost airline, Ryanair.
The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX posted a public poll on X asking users whether he should buy Ryanair, following a heated exchange with the airline’s outspoken chief executive, Michael O’Leary. The poll came after a disagreement over the possible use of Starlink as in-flight Wi-Fi on Ryanair aircraft.
Ryanair has chosen not to install Starlink on its planes, saying the costs and operational impact do not make sense for its business model. What started as a business-level disagreement quickly turned personal, with both Musk and O’Leary exchanging sharp comments in interviews and on social media.
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Musk’s poll asked a simple question about whether he should acquire Ryanair, presented in his usual casual and humorous style. The response was massive. Within hours, the poll crossed more than 750,000 votes and continued to trend widely.
At the time of writing, around 76.8 per cent of users had voted in favour of the idea, although Musk has not clarified whether the poll reflects any serious takeover plan. Adding to the buzz, Musk used wordplay and humour, saying Ryanair should be run by someone named Ryan.
In one post, he wrote that he wanted to “restore Ryan as their rightful ruler,” ending the message with “it is your destiny.” These comments were widely shared and helped keep the online debate alive. The dispute traces back to Ryanair’s public explanation for rejecting Starlink.
Tensions rose further when O’Leary made personal remarks about Musk during an interview with Newstalk, calling him “an idiot” and advising people to ignore him. Musk responded on X by calling O’Leary “an utter idiot” and even posted “Fire him.” Ryanair’s official social media account later joined the exchange during a service outage, jokingly asking Musk if he needed Wi-Fi.
