Elon Musk has sparked fresh controversy after suggesting he could buy budget airline Ryanair, launching a public attack on its chief executive Michael O’Leary and calling for him to be fired. The billionaire tech entrepreneur, who owns Tesla, SpaceX and social media platform X (formerly Twitter), made the remarks during a heated exchange online. Responding to one of the airline’s posts, Musk declared that O’Leary “needs to be fired” and went on to ask: “How much would it cost to buy you?”

Musk joked about taking over the airline and installing someone named “Ryan” at the helm, claiming it was “their destiny.” He later put the idea to a vote, asking his more than 232 million followers whether he should buy “Ryan Air and restore Ryan as their rightful ruler”. Tens of thousands responded within hours, with a large majority voting in favour.

The spat escalated after O’Leary dismissed suggestions that Ryanair should install SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi across its fleet.

Speaking on Irish radio station, Newstalk, O’Leary said: “I would pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk.

“He’s an idiot. Very wealthy, but he’s still an idiot.

He added: “What Elon Musk knows about flights and drag would be zero.

“We have to put an aerial antenna on top of the aircraft. It would cost us about $200-250 million dollars a year, in other words an extra dollar for every passenger we fly.

“And the reality for us is we can’t afford those costs, passengers won’t pay for internet usage. If it’s free, they’ll use it, but they won’t pay €1 each to use the internet. So we’re not putting it on board.”

He also criticised Musk’s social media platform, describing X as a “cesspit.”

Musk hit back by responding to the video clip on Friday and wrote on X: “Ryanair CEO is an utter idiot. Fire him.”

Ryanair’s official account also responded to Musk with mocking posts about in-flight Wi-Fi and a tongue-in-cheek seat sale aimed at “idiots on X.”

A post by Ryanair’s official X page on Tuesday reads: “Ryanair is launching a Great Idiots seat sale especially for Elon and any other idiots on X. 100,000 seats for just €16.99 one-way. Buy now before Musk gets one!!!”

The Ryanair chief executive said he would hold a press conference in Dublin on Wednesday to address Elon Musk’s latest online outburst, adding that Musk “knows even less about airline ownership rules than he does about aircraft aerodynamics.”