Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary will finally receive a bonus worth more than €100 million, one of the highest in the history of European companies.
O’Leary will receive shares worth €111 million (£93.5 million) if he stays with the airline until the end of July 2028, as the airline’s share price remained above €21 for 28 days. The deal, reached in December 2022, was intended to ensure O’Leary remained as chief executive of the Irish low-cost airline.
O’Leary is already a billionaire in euros based on his 44 million shares in Ryanair, according to data firm S&P Global Market Intelligence. Those shares were worth 1 billion euros on Thursday. Ryanair was valued at more than 25 billion euros.
Analysts at Barclays questioned the reason for the bonus, saying it raises corporate governance concerns as the board’s decision to buy shares could theoretically drive the share price to the required value.
The 64-year-old O’Leary has been the CEO of Ryanair since 1994 and is one of Ireland’s richest businessmen. When he took over as CEO of the Irish low-cost airline, he turned it around, making it the largest low-cost airline in Europe and the largest buyer of Boeing Co. aircraft outside the U.S.
The airline’s share price has more than doubled in the past five years. It fell to 8 euros during the Covid lockdown, which halted the vast majority of air travel, but has since soared as flight numbers have rebounded. Ryanair carried 200.2 million passengers in the 2024-25 financial year, a record number, up 9% on the previous year.
