Why Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary Has No Problem With His $108 Million Bonus

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary is unabashedly vocal about his opinions and often shuts down his critics with witty and sometimes amusing responses. Another topic of discussion these days related to the busy airline CEO is his possible bonus of more than $100 million, which O’Leary has justified with an interesting analogy.

Up for a $108 million bonus

There’s a possibility that Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary could get an eye-watering bonus of €100 million ($108 million) in the near future. Of course, it all depends on Ryanair’s stocks hitting a certain point and retaining that position, but from the way things are going, that might happen this year.

O’Leary will qualify for the bonus if the airline’s share price hits €21 and stays there for 28 consecutive days. This would unlock the huge bonus, making O’Leary eligible for the bumper payout. It will also be a huge step up from the $991,572 salary he drew last year, although this year, his base salary will be $1.3 million.

Photo: Nicolas Economou | Shutterstock

But as the $100 million + bonus approaches for the outspoken CEO, there are many who are criticizing him for it, and O’Leary is taking none of it and has responded in his usual way and compared it with the payouts in football.

O’Leary feels that a hefty bonus would not be much of an issue in the football world. He recently said he would not put up with “any mewling nonsense about my €100 million pay” and gave examples of Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp, managers of premier league football teams, and their impressive pay. The Telegraph quotes him as saying,

“Footballers are getting half a million a week. Pep, who I think is a genius and deserves every penny, is getting £25 million a year, Klopp too – and nobody says boo. Yet some guy running a serious business employing 20,000-plus people gets paid £5 or £10m and it’s suddenly excessive.”

Photo: katatonia82 | Shutterstock

The airline has had an impressive bounce back after the pandemic and expects good annual profits for last year. It also gave its investors a dividend last year in November after announcing earnings for the first half of the year.

Outspoken CEO

Michael O’Leary is known as much for his business acumen as for his outspoken views and witty responses to questions hurled at him. Not the kind to pull his punches, his comments can often ruffle feathers, but he just doesn’t care.

Recently, he responded to the idea of Ryanair introducing a loyalty program by saying that if passengers want loyalty, they should get a dog. He nipped the idea in the bud of Ryanair ever getting a rewards program but added that if people want the lowest airfares, then Ryanair’s the one to go for.

Photo: Ceri Breeze | Shutterstock

Earlier this year, Simple Flying’s Tom Boon had a chance to have a tête-à-tête with O’Leary and asked him what he thought of Frontier Airlines’ new blocked middle seat product. He replied, “Bullsh*t! In fact, it makes no sense.” You can read more about it in the article below.

Related

Ryanair CEO Calls Frontier’s Blocked Middle Seat Product “Bullsh*t”

O’Leary believes selling the seat to a passenger who can buy ancillary services is better.

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