Elon Musk Considers Ryanair Acquisition Following Starlink Internet Dispute
Elon Musk just hinted at buying Ryanair—yes, the budget airline—after a week-long public spat over Starlink connectivity. What started as a tech feud over in-flight internet speeds might morph into a multi-billion dollar takeover. Musk doesn't just fix problems; he buys them.
The Starlink Standoff
For seven days, Ryanair's CEO and Musk traded barbs online about spotty satellite service on European flights. Instead of just upgrading the tech, Musk floated acquiring the entire airline. Classic Musk move—bypass negotiations, acquire the counterparty. It cuts through corporate red tape like a rocket through atmosphere.
Why an Airline?
Owning Ryanair gives Starlink a captive fleet—thousands of aircraft requiring mandatory connectivity upgrades. Instant market dominance. No more airline contracts to negotiate; just internal memos. The vertical integration play makes Tesla's supply chain look simple.
The Finance Angle
Ryanair's stock dipped during the feud—perfect timing for a predator. Musk's tweet alone moved markets, proving yet again that a billionaire's whims outweigh traditional valuation models. Wall Street analysts now scramble to price 'acquisition via Twitter feud' into their discounted cash flow projections.
Regulatory Turbulence Ahead
EU antitrust regulators already eye the potential deal. Combining satellite dominance with Europe's largest low-cost carrier raises monopoly concerns. But Musk historically treats regulators like speed bumps—annoying but surmountable.
Broader Implications
This signals a new phase for tech giants: instead of partnering with legacy industries, just absorb them. Why license your technology to airlines when you can own the seats? It's vertical integration on steroids—with a side of public drama.
The cynical take? Another billionaire using market-moving power to snap up assets during artificially manufactured volatility—because nothing boosts a portfolio like creating your own buying opportunities.
Echoes of Twitter purchase
This is all happening while Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is getting heat over reports that people are making inappropriate sexual images of others on X without permission. Ireland wants to deal with AI image problems in European law during its time leading the EU later this year, Irish media said Monday.
When Musk asked Ryanair, “How much would it cost to buy you?”, it brought back memories of something similar in 2017. After saying he loved Twitter in December that year, a journalist joked he should buy it. “How much is it?” Musk replied.
He brought up that old chat almost five years later, posting an upside-down smiley face days after making a surprise buyout offer. Musk ended up paying $44 billion for Twitter and cut staff across the board, including senior executives.
Buying an airline isn’t simple
The billionaire is known for going after executives and companies on social media. When he was buying Twitter, he kept criticizing how the company ran things and what its CEO was doing.
Musk has asked his followers about all kinds of things before. Should Tesla take Dogecoin for cars? Should he sell some of his Tesla shares? He actually did sell shares at the end of 2021.
After getting Twitter stock in 2022, he asked users if they wanted an edit button for tweets. He floated the idea of turning the San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter. He asked what people thought about bringing back Vine, the short video service.
Months after asking if he should quit as head of the company, Musk brought in Linda Yaccarino to take over as CEO in May 2023.
British Airways owner IAG gave up on buying Spanish carrier Air Europa in 2024 because of competition worries. Spirit Aviation Holdings and Frontier Group Holdings have had trouble trying to merge.
There are also big regulatory barriers to buying airlines. Many countries limit how much foreigners can own of major carriers.
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