Photo: Kyriakos Samartzidis / European Commission, 2025 (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Last updated: November 2, 2026
Michael O’Leary is the group chief executive of Ryanair, the Irish budget airline he has run since 1994. On Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, he told CNBC that European airfares could rise by 10%, “maybe even 20%,” next year as the cheap fuel contracts that have shielded airlines expire. His warning came as Ryanair reported a 15% drop in first-half profit, to €2.15 billion, after the price of the fuel it hadn’t locked in roughly doubled during the Middle East conflict. O’Leary is a former tax trainee who came to Ryanair in 1988 as an adviser to its founder, Tony Ryan. He built the airline around low fares, add-on fees and relentless cost cutting. He is also one of Ireland’s best-known and most provocative executives, and one of its richest, with a Ryanair stake that was worth about €1 billion in 2025.
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Quick facts
Full name: Michael Kevin O’Leary
Born: March 20, 1961, in County Cork, Ireland (age 65). He grew up near Mullingar, County Westmeath.
Title: Group CEO of Ryanair Holdings since April 2019. He has been CEO of Ryanair since 1994.
Joined Ryanair: 1988, as chief financial officer
Education: Clongowes Wood College; business and economics at Trinity College Dublin (graduated 1982)
Early career: Tax trainee at the Dublin accounting firm Stokes Kennedy Crowley (later part of KPMG)
Ryanair stake: About 44 million shares, worth about €1 billion in May 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data cited by The Guardian
Family: Married to Anita Farrell since 2003. They have four children.
Home: Gigginstown House, near Delvin, County Westmeath, where he breeds Aberdeen Angus cattle and racehorses
Not to be confused with: Kevin O’Leary, the Canadian investor from “Shark Tank”
Who is Michael O’Leary?
O’Leary was born on March 20, 1961, in County Cork and grew up near Mullingar in the Irish midlands. He was the second child of Gerarda and Timothy “Ted” O’Leary, and his father was part-owner of a textile factory. He boarded at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare and then studied business and economics at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1982.
He trained at the accounting firm Stokes Kennedy Crowley, which later became part of KPMG, and studied the Irish tax system. One of the firm’s clients was Tony Ryan, the head of the aircraft leasing company Guinness Peat Aviation, and O’Leary advised Ryan on his personal taxes. He left the firm after about two years and opened newsagents in two Dublin suburbs, Terenure and Walkinstown. In 1988 Ryan hired him as his personal financial and tax adviser.
That same year O’Leary became Ryanair’s chief financial officer and a director of the airline. Ryanair was losing money at the time, and his first advice to Ryan was to shut it down, according to Wikipedia’s account of his career. Instead he stayed. He became CEO in 1994 and remade Ryanair on the low-cost model pioneered by Southwest Airlines in the U.S.: one aircraft type, quick turnarounds, cheaper secondary airports and very low base fares, with money made on extras. “The other airlines are asking how they can put up fares. We are asking how we could get rid of them,” he said in a 2001 interview.
In 2019 Ryanair reorganized into a group of airlines, and O’Leary became group CEO. The group now flies more than 120 million passengers in six months. It flew 125.8 million between April and September 2026, with a fleet of 620 Boeing 737s that it owns outright. It plans to grow to more than 300 million passengers a year by its 2034 fiscal year.
O’Leary is famous for being blunt, profane and willing to pick fights with governments, airports, unions, regulators and rival airlines. That has made him one of Europe’s most quoted executives. It has also led to repeated apologies, most recently in September 2026.
Career timeline
1961: Born March 20 in County Cork, Ireland.
1982: Graduates from Trinity College Dublin and joins Stokes Kennedy Crowley as a trainee.
Mid-1980s: Leaves the firm and opens newsagents in Dublin.
1988: Tony Ryan hires him as his personal financial and tax adviser. He becomes Ryanair’s CFO and a director.
1994: Becomes CEO of Ryanair.
1996: Joins the board of Ryanair Holdings.
2003: Marries Anita Farrell.
2019: Becomes group CEO as Ryanair splits into a group of airlines. Announces that his Gigginstown House Stud racing operation will be gradually wound down.
December 2022: Agrees to a share-option deal that runs through July 2028.
May 2025: Ryanair’s share price stays above €21 for 28 days in a row, meeting the target for his options.
September 2026: Calls rival airlines “high-fare rapists,” then apologizes on Sept. 18. Ryanair cuts its winter schedule to limit its exposure to expensive fuel.
Nov. 2, 2026: Ryanair reports first-half profit down 15%, and O’Leary warns of fare increases of up to 20% in 2027.
Notable deals & projects
The low-cost model: O’Leary built Ryanair on low base fares, add-on fees and discounts negotiated with airports. In the first half of fiscal 2027, ancillary revenue (fees for bags, seats and other extras) was €3.08 billion, almost a third of Ryanair’s €10.08 billion in revenue.
Fuel hedging: Ryanair locked in the price of 80% of its fuel for the year to March 2027 at about $67 a barrel. That insulated its profit this year. It has hedged only 25% of the following year’s fuel, at about $95 a barrel.
Boeing: Ryanair’s fleet is built around Boeing 737s. It expects its first 16 737 MAX-10s in spring 2027 and plans to grow to more than 220 million passengers next year.
Returning cash: Ryanair has retired more than 40% of its shares since 2008, according to the company. On Nov. 2 it declared an interim dividend of €0.273 a share and announced another €800 million buyback.
Choosing friendly countries: Ryanair says it sends new planes to countries and airports that cut aviation taxes and fees, such as Albania, Italy, Morocco, Slovakia and Sweden. It is moving flights away from high-tax markets like Austria, Germany and regional Spain.
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What he’s known for
Rock-bottom fares: Ryanair’s average fare in the April–September 2026 half, which includes the peak summer season, was €55.70.
Saying what other CEOs won’t: He is known for profanity, personal insults aimed at politicians and rivals, and claims he later walks back.
Fighting taxes: In 2022 he called a Hungarian minister a “complete idiot” over a new windfall tax and passed the cost on to passengers.
Racehorses: Horses from his Gigginstown House Stud include Tiger Roll, who won the Grand National in 2018 and 2019, and Rule the World, the 2016 winner. In 2019 he announced the operation would be phased down. Five years later, The Irish Times reported it was still “a major player.”
Manchester City: He has supported the English soccer club since childhood.
In the news
Nov. 2, 2026: Ryanair reported first-half profit of €2.15 billion, down 15% from €2.54 billion. Revenue rose 3% to €10.08 billion and passenger numbers rose 6% to 125.8 million, but average fares fell 4%. The 20% of its fuel that wasn’t hedged doubled in price to about $130 a barrel, and operating costs rose 10%.
Nov. 2, 2026: O’Leary told CNBC that jet fuel is at $170 a barrel and predicted that fares across Europe will rise 10%, “maybe even 20%,” next year. Ryanair expects its fuel bill for the year starting April 2027 to rise by about €2 billion and said higher fares are unlikely to fully cover it. It is reviewing costs, including possible temporary pay freezes and more use of AI. Ryanair shares rose 3.7% on Monday but are down about 19% this year, according to CNBC.
September 2026: Ryanair cut its traffic target for the year to March 2027 from 216 million passengers to 214 million. Winter traffic will be roughly flat with last year.
September 2026: O’Leary apologized “sincerely and unreservedly” on Sept. 18 after calling rival airlines “high-fare rapists,” BBC News reported. Ireland’s Tánaiste (deputy prime minister), Simon Harris, and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre had criticized the remark.
Quotes
“I believe you’re going to see airfares rise next year across Europe by 10%, maybe even 20%.” — CNBC, Nov. 2, 2026
“This is a very significant cost cliff we’re all facing next year.” — CNBC, Nov. 2, 2026
“You know we’ve paid off all of our debt this year, so we have effectively zero debt.” — CNBC, Nov. 2, 2026
“The other airlines are asking how they can put up fares. We are asking how we could get rid of them.” — 2001 interview
“I will try to learn from this mistake, and do better in future.” — apology, September 2026, via BBC News
Controversies / criticism
“High-fare rapists”: In September 2026 he used the phrase about rival airlines. He then apologized and said his language had been “careless” and “it won’t happen again,” BBC News reported.
Climate: He called the scientific consensus on man-made global warming “horseshit” in a 2010 interview with the Irish Independent and dismissed climate change as “complete and utter rubbish” in 2017. In 2021 he struck a softer tone.
The 2010 ash cloud: When Europe closed its airspace after an Icelandic volcano erupted, he said, “There was no ash cloud. It was mythical.”
Passenger comments: In 2020 he suggested airport security should focus on single Muslim men. In 2022 he defended an Afrikaans-language test for South African passengers, then withdrew his comments.
Pay: Critics called his potential €100 million-plus bonus excessive when Ryanair hit its share-price target in 2025, The Guardian reported.
Net worth & money
O’Leary owns more than 4% of Ryanair. In May 2025 his roughly 44 million shares were worth about €1 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data cited by The Guardian, which made him a billionaire in euro terms. He also holds options to buy 10 million Ryanair shares at €11.12 each. They were valued at about €111 million when Ryanair’s stock met its target in May 2025, and he gets them only if he stays at the airline until the end of July 2028. There is no current audited net worth figure. Forbes’s published estimate dates from 2018.
FAQ
Who is Michael O’Leary?
Michael O’Leary is the group CEO of Ryanair. He has run the Irish budget airline since 1994.
What did Michael O’Leary say about airfares?
On Nov. 2, 2026, he told CNBC that European airfares could rise by 10% to 20% next year as airlines’ cheaper fuel hedges expire and jet fuel prices stay high.
How much profit did Ryanair make?
Ryanair reported profit after tax of €2.15 billion for April–September 2026, down 15% from €2.54 billion a year earlier.
How old is Michael O’Leary?
He was born on March 20, 1961, so he is 65.
Is Michael O’Leary a billionaire?
His Ryanair stake was worth about €1 billion in May 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data cited by The Guardian.
Is Michael O’Leary the same person as Kevin O’Leary?
No. Michael O’Leary runs Ryanair. Kevin O’Leary is a Canadian investor known for “Shark Tank” and “Dragons’ Den.”
How long will Michael O’Leary stay at Ryanair?
He has not announced a departure date. His share-option deal requires him to stay until the end of July 2028.
Further reading
Ryanair CEO warns fares could rise by up to 20% next year — CNBC
Ryanair H1 PAT falls 15% to €2.15bn as unhedged oil doubles & traffic grows 6% at lower fares — Ryanair
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary apologises over ‘high-fare rapists’ remarks — BBC News
Michael O’Leary to get €100m bonus under deal to keep him at Ryanair — The Guardian
Five years after dramatic announcement, Michael O’Leary’s slimmed-down racing operation is still a major player — The Irish Times
The Profile: America’s Second Lady & the CEO who turned Delta into most profitable airline — The Profile
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