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Elon Musk asks X users if he should buy Ryanair, renewing feud over Starlink wi-fi
Elon Musk reignited his public clash with Ryanair by posting a poll on X asking users whether he should buy the budget airline, a move echoing his pre-X acquisition tactics.
Elon Musk has once again stirred social media after posting a poll on X asking users whether he should buy Ryanair, echoing the approach he used before acquiring X (formerly Twitter). The post comes amid a highly public feud between Musk and Ryanair, which escalated after the airline rejected Musk’s Starlink satellite internet for its planes.
The controversy began when Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary publicly dismissed the idea of offering Wi-Fi onboard, saying passengers on short-haul flights would not be willing to pay for it. In an interview with Reuters, O’Leary said, “We don't think our passengers are willing to pay for WiFi for an average one-hour flight.”
The exchange intensified when O’Leary called Musk “misinformed” and said people should “pay no attention whatsoever to Elon Musk.” He went further, calling the Tesla CEO “an idiot, very wealthy, but still an idiot.” Musk responded by demanding that Ryanair fire O’Leary, tweeting, “Ryanair CEO is an utter idiot. Fire him.”
Buy Ryan Air and restore Ryan as their rightful ruler
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 19, 2026
The latest clash unfolded when Ryanair mocked Musk during a temporary X outage, tweeting, “Perhaps you need Wi-Fi @elonmusk?” Musk responded with a post suggesting he could take over the airline, writing, “Should I buy Ryan Air and put someone whose actual name is Ryan in charge?”
In a follow-up tweet, Musk said, “I really want to put a Ryan in charge of Ryan Air. It is your destiny,” and asked, “How much would it cost to buy you?” He then launched a poll asking users to vote on whether he should buy Ryanair and restore “Ryan as their rightful ruler.” The poll gave two options: “F yes” and “No.”
Also read: Elon Musk-led X offers Rs 9 crore prize for top long-form article, sets strict eligibility rules
At the time of writing, the poll had already attracted more than 500,000 votes, with 78% voting “F yes” and 22% saying “No.” The poll is set to close in about 17 hours.
The feud has also involved a financial dispute over the cost of installing Starlink equipment on Ryanair planes. O’Leary claimed the annual cost of installing antennas and accessing Starlink satellites would range between $200 million and $250 million, arguing that the added drag would increase fuel consumption. Musk has disputed these figures, maintaining that the cost and operational impact would be far lower.
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