Ryanair's Michael O'Leary lands historic €100m bonus
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has earned a bonus worth more than €100m (£84m) after the discount carrier's shares cleared a key performance target.
The Irishman qualified for the mammoth payout on Thursday after Ryanair stock traded above the specified level of €21 for a 28th straight day, closing at €23.74.
Mr O'Leary now stands to receive 10m shares for €11.12 apiece, or €111.2m in total. Based on Thursday's closing price, the stock would be worth €237m, bagging a paper profit of €126m.
The Irishman is set for one of the biggest paydays in European corporate history despite Ryanair reporting a 16pc drop in annual profit in an earnings update last week.
Mr O'Leary, a Manchester City fan, said at the time that the bonus was justified in light of the long-term performance of the airline, comparing it with the rewards on offer in the sporting world.
He told analysts: 'I think we're delivering exceptional value for Ryanair shareholders in an era when Premiership footballers or the managers are getting paid €20m to €25m a year.
'I think Ryanair shareholders are getting a particular value out of our share options – both mine and the rest of the management team.'
This embedded content is not available in your region.
Mr O'Leary did not indicate how he might spend the money and has slimmed down the racehorse training operation into which he poured millions earlier in his career, winning three Grand Nationals and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the process.
The long-term incentive scheme was first set out in 2019 with an expiration date of 2024 as part of a deal that saw the Ryanair chief sign a new contract while accepting cuts to his salary and annual bonus.
However, Covid intervened the following year, grounding flights, plunging airlines into the red and sending share prices tumbling, with Ryanair dropping to €8.
Shareholders subsequently backed an extension to the expiry date. The carrier expanded rapidly in the wake of the pandemic, though struggled last summer after a row with online travel agents saw it deprived of some bookings.
It was also unable to tap increasing demand for all-inclusive package breaks that boosted rivals easyJet, TUI and Jet2, having closed down its own holidays division some years ago.
Regardless, Ryanair continues to rank as Europe's biggest airline by passenger numbers.
Mr O'Leary is credited with transforming the Irish carrier from a regional also-ran into a goliath. He joined as finance chief in 1988 before becoming chief executive in 1994, importing a low-cost, no-frills business model copied from US discount giant Southwest Airlines.
In order to receive the bonus award – to be paid in share options – Mr O'Leary must stay at Ryanair until July 2028, by which time he will be aged 67 and have been chief executive for almost 35 years.
Ryanair did not respond to calls. It previously indicated earlier that it did not plan to comment on its chief executive's windfall since the share options would not vest for another three years.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Opinion - Marco Rubio declares war on the global censors
Winston Churchill once warned that 'appeasement is feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last.' When it comes to the crocodile of censorship, history is strewn with defenders who later became digestives. Censorship produces an insatiable appetite for greater and greater speech limits, and today's censorship supporters often become tomorrow's censored subjects. This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stopped feeding the crocodile. On May 28, 2025, Rubio shocked many of our allies by issuing a new visa restriction policy that bars foreign nationals deemed 'responsible for censorship of protected expression' in the U.S. The new policy follows a major address by Vice President J.D. Vance in Munich challenging our European allies to end their systematic attacks on free speech. Vance declared, 'If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you. Nor, for that matter, is there anything that you can do for the American people that elected me and elected President Trump.' At the time, I called the speech 'Churchillian' in drawing a bright line for the free world. Rubio's action is no less impressive and even more impactful. Europe has faced no consequences for its aggressive efforts at transnational censorship. Indeed, this should not be a fight for the administration alone. Congress should explore reciprocal penalties for foreign governments targeting American companies or citizens for engaging in protected speech. After Vance spoke in Munich, I spoke in Berlin at the World Forum, where European leaders gathered in one of the most strikingly anti-free speech conferences I have attended. This year's forum embraced the slogan 'A New World Order with European Values.' That 'new world order' is based on an aggressive anti-free speech platform that has been enforced for years by the European Union. At the heart of this effort is the Digital Services Act, a draconian law that allows for sweeping censorship and speech prosecutions. Most importantly, it has been used by the EU to threaten American corporations for their failure to censor Americans and others on social media sites. After the World Forum, I returned home to warn that this is now an existential war over a right that defines us as a people —the very 'Indispensable Right' identified by Justice Louis Brandeis, which is essential for every other right in the Constitution. The irony was crushing. I wrote about how this nation has fought to protect our rights in world wars, yet many in Congress simply shrug or even support the effort as other countries move to make Americans censor other Americans. What was most unnerving about Berlin was how Americans have encouraged Europeans to target their fellow citizens. At the forum was Hillary Clinton who, after Elon Musk purchased Twitter on a pledge to dismantle its massive censorship system, called upon the EU to use the Digital Services Act to force him to resume censorship. Other Americans have appeared before the EU to call upon it to oppose the U.S. Nina Jankowicz, the former head of President Joe Biden's infamous Disinformation Governance Board, has recently returned to he EU to rally other nations to oppose what she described as 'the autocracy, the United States of America.' She warned that the Digital Services Act was under attack, and that the EU had to fight and beat the U.S.: 'Do not capitulate. Hold the line.' Former European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services Thierry Breton even threatened Musk for interviewing Trump before our last presidential election. He told Musk that he was being 'monitored' in conducting any interview with now-President Trump. The EU is doubling down on these efforts, including threatening Musk with prosecution and massive confiscatory fines if he does not resume censoring users of X. The penalties are expected to exceed $1 billion. Other countries are following suit. Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes shut down X in his entire country over Musk's refusal to remove political posts. These countries could remotely control speech within the U.S., forcing companies like X to meet the lowest common denominator set by the EU and anti-free speech groups. There are free speech concerns even in such measures designed to protect free speech. This policy should be confined to government officials, particularly EU officials, who are actively seeking to export European censorship systems worldwide. It should not extend to academics or individuals who are part of the growing anti-free speech movement. Free speech itself can counter those voices. These are the same voices that we have heard throughout history, often using the very same terms and claims to silence others. However, Rubio showed Europe that the U.S. would not simply stand by as European censors determined what Americans could say, read, or watch. As the EU threatens companies like X with billion-dollar fines, it is time for the U.S. to treat this as an attack on our citizens from abroad. Franklin Delano Roosevelt put it simply during World War II: 'No man can tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it.' It is time to get serious about the European threat to free speech. And Rubio is doing just that — finally imposing real consequences for censorship. We are not going to defeat censors by yelling at them. Speech alone clearly does not impress them. Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the author of 'The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cotgreave hat-trick gives Gloucester win over Northampton but no playoff berth
Gloucester did their part. A top-four finish and a place in the playoffs remained tantalisingly within reach for George Skivington's side on the final day, but they didn't just need a win: they also required one of Bristol, Sale and Leicester above them to falter. It wasn't to be. Seven tries in a rousing performance, including a hat-trick for the elusive 19-year-old wing Jack Cotgreave, against a much-changed Northampton delighted their relentlessly passionate fans. Ultimately it meant finishing fifth. It will be Bath, plus the aforementioned three, to fight it out for the Premiership title. Advertisement Related: Ibitoye double fires Bristol past Harlequins to clinch playoff tie at Bath The Saints remain the champions for now and Phil Dowson's 14 changes felt like a suitably low-key way to sign off on a disappointing title defence. They have been injury-plagued and hardly helped by players frequently departing for international duty. Still they produced one of the more memorable performances of recent years by edging out Leinster in the Champions Cup semi-final four weeks ago. They came up short against Bordeaux in Cardiff seven days ago and all four of their British & Irish Lions representatives – Fin Smith, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman – were absent for this season finale. Music to Gloucester's ears with a playoff berth potentially on the table: official statistics gave them a 34% chance of the top four, and mathematically speaking, there was even a shot at a home semi-final. In a perfect world, perhaps, the Premiership's final day would feature a tense scrap to avoid relegation as well as a pulsating playoff race: not to mention a properly funded, healthy second tier packed with clubs snapping at the heels of the elite. Advertisement That feels like an impossible dream in English rugby (blame the Rugby Football Union, not the clubs) and Dowson's recently stated fear of the competition collectively 'sleepwalking' to another bankruptcy was right on the money, if that is the correct phrase. Hype up a congested playoff race all you like, the finances of the clubs remain in a parlous state, and there is no sign of it changing. Taking the positives, though, there was nothing wrong with the on-field product. The 6ft 4in Cotgreave had scored on his Premiership debut against Newcastle last time out, and crossed three times in the first half alone, although one of those was disallowed for a foot in touch. His first score came after three minutes, converted by Santiago Carreras, only for tries by Northampton's Tom Pearson and Tom Litchfield to demonstrate that the visitors fancied making a game of it. The second row Ed Prowse, captaining Northampton for the first time, was forced off on 17 minutes after an accidental head contact before Cotgreave's flying effort in the corner was disallowed. There was no doubt over another impressively pacy finish on the same wing, by the same player, on 25 minutes. Then, when Christian Wade smartly intercepted a pass around halfway on the Gloucester right, his prodigious pace made the breakaway finish seem straightforward. Wonderful work by the lock Freddie Clarke, skilfully scooping up a loose ball and offloading, soon sent the quicksilver scrum-half Tomos Williams cantering in for the bonus point. It was 22-14 at half-time: the only problem? Bristol led Harlequins 26-12, having run in four tries, with Leicester and Sale also set fair. Advertisement Northampton came out firing. The scrum-half Jonny Weimann forced his way over eight minutes after the break and when Hutchinson confidently stroked over a sweet conversion, his third of the afternoon, there was just a point in it. Gloucester's response was immediate, literally: from the restart Carreras's silky show-and-go set up Cotgreave for his hat-trick. Seb Atkinson's score made it six tries, and was met with one of the day's biggest cheers. Order restored for the Shed faithful. Iakopo Mapu's try for Saints cut the lead to 10 before Wade's second, the game's final act, sent the fans wild. But for Gloucester, the playoffs will have to wait. 'I just hope we can follow up this season, that's what it's about,' remarked a fan as the train from London pulled into Gloucester station an hour or so before kick-off. A sentiment doubtless shared by all those who follow the once-mighty Cherry-and-Whites.
San Francisco Chronicle
26 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Inter Milan mourning before Champions League final after death of former club president Pellegrini
MILAN (AP) — Former Inter Milan club president Ernesto Pellegrini has died on the day the team plays the Champions League final. He was 84. 'Pellegrini has left us. For 11 years he led Inter with wisdom, honor and determination, leaving an indelible imprint in the history of our club,' Inter said on its website on Saturday, hours before the team plays Paris Saint-Germain to be European champion. Pellegrini was born in Milan in 1940. Italian media reported he suffered from a lung infection. Pellegrini, who made his money in catering and services, was the 17th president of the club from 1984-95. Inter won Serie A in 1989 and twice won the UEFA Cup during his time. He brought German players Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Lothar Matthäus, Andreas Brehme, and Jürgen Klinsmann to the team, before selling his shares in the club to Massimo Moratti in 1995. ___
