MICHAEL O'LEARY

Until 20 years ago, Michael O’Leary was an almost unknown Irish businessman. He has become the biggest disruptor ever in commercial flights, since the inception of airplanes: he invented the “Low-Cost” formula, even the word itself, in aviation in Europe. Ryanair is today Europe's largest cheap flights carrier and the “flagship carrier” in many countries, like Italy. It’s also by far the company serving the most destinations in Europe with direct flights. Curiously enough, the name of the company is not “Learyair”, as one would expect. Moreover, it has nothing to do with its godfather. That’s because, despite being the owner, O’Leary did not create the company. Back in that frightening 1984, it was another Irish businessman who started Ryanair: his name was Tony Ryan, and he did not find any better and simpler idea than naming the company with his last name. O’Leary would arrive only years later. Ryanair initially operated as a regional airline serving Ireland and the UK. However, as most small carriers, the company struggled financially in its early years, facing fierce competition from the incumbents, such as British Airways, and grappling with economic challenges, while in the 80’s all Great Britain was in depression and the Thatcher Government did not immediately bring results.

Destiny had in store a very different future for Ryanair. This future, though, started some 20 years before the fateful 1984 in the small town of Mullingar, in the countryside east of Dublin, called County Westmeath. In March 1961, Ted and Gerarda O’ Leary celebrated the birth of their second son Michael Gerard. He would not be the last: other 2 siblings would arrive in the next years, but one sister died at the age of 10. O’Leary is a county Cork name and O’Learys have been recorded at Kanturk, a small town some thirty miles north of Cork, since the early 1800s. Michael’s grandparents were farmers, perhaps the more prosperous on his mother’s side. That’s why he has always seen himself as a product of farming stock and he understands traditional Irish values: rural, catholic, and conservative. His father Ted chose a different path: he became part-owner of a woolen factory called Tailteann which might explain Michael’s talent for business: he learned something at home. Family’s wealth surely explains why he could be afforded a high-profile education. He attended Clongowes Wood College near Clane, County Kildare. Later on, the family moved to a larger house at Lynn on the outskirts of Mullingar. From there, Michael was accepted at Trinity College in Dublin where he studied business and economics. Soon after his graduation in 1982, he worked as a trainee with an accountancy company called Stokes Kennedy Crowley: it was almost unknown at the time, but it would be later known as KPMG, one of the big four in the consultancy industry worldwide. It was a dull and boring job, mainly focused on the Irish tax system. This background, though, would prove crucial for his future.

In every pub in Dublin, even in the touristic ones at Temple Bar area, there’s someone who can tell customers the story of Art and Conn: they were two drunkards who wanted to get out of poverty. They convince Olcàn to lend them a barrel of whisky: they would sell it to the market and make money. While rolling it down the street, Art finds a shilling in his pocket and offers it to Conn in exchange for a sip of the precious spirit held into the barrel. He accepts and now he has a shilling in his pocket: he now turns to Art with the same request. They will go on and on, until the barrel is empty, poor as before: they only have one shilling which just changed hands many times, and a debt burden with Olcàn. The pub story epitomizes the culture of a historically poor land, from where people constantly emigrated (especially to the US, and especially to Boston). These days Ireland is not a poor country anymore: the 300 richest people have a combined wealth of around 87 billion Euros. It’s a lot of money for such a small and low populated island: 865 million of that wealth belongs to O'Leary, as his annual net worth falls around 167 million. His treasure is going to increase, though: his base salary has jumped to 1.2 million Euros per year, some 23,000 per week. In the past year, he earned a total of 2.7 million including bonuses. He will need many salary increases, though, if he wants to reach the 11 billion Euros of the Weston Irish family, who own the Weston retail empire, which includes everything from Penneys (Primark), to Brown Thomas, to Selfridges.

O’Leary is a very controversial figure in the business community. In 2004, he acquired a taxi plate for his Mercedes S-Class, to get a taxi classification. This action allowed him to use Dublin’s designated bus lanes to help him get across town conveniently. With time, he employed a taxi driver with a full PSV license to drive him around. The action led to a massive outcry from the public, with the Irish transport minister expressing his thoughts on the abuse and irresponsibility portrayed by the entrepreneur. He is known for politically incorrect remarks, for a management style punctuated by outspokenness, unconventional approach, which have earned him both praise and criticism. His comments against Muslim males generated a global backlash: O’Leary admitted that single Muslim males traveling alone posed a terror threat to airlines because people fear they might be terrorists. He made dozens of similar statements during his career: despite accusations of being racist, he has always been as unapologetic as he can be. The Irishman has made PR stuns a trademark for Ryanair: on November 5, 2021, the day after the presidential election in US, Ryanair tweeted a screenshot of Eric Trump, son and trusted advisor to the defeated US president, inviting him to return to using commercial lines instead of Air Force One. Very caustic irony, indeed.

When not at his office, O’Leary will tend to his horses and cattle on his farm in Westmeath County, where he was born. The “Aviator” loves racecourses, and his horses have some championships to their names, such as the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National. Pictures of his horses are shown in his office: there is no information whether similar family pictures are there as well. That may say something about his temper. He has been married to Anita Farrell since 2003: they have four children, though he rarely exposes his family to the media. In one interview, he came clean on declining an opportunity to appear in The Apprentice, where he would have taken a starring role. He made the decision for family reasons.