Ryanair has suffered a significant shareholder revolt over a pay deal that could yield a €150 million payout for its boss Michael O’Leary.
The budget airline’s investors voted by about two-to-one in favour of a new contract that runs from 2028 to 2032, O’Leary said on Thursday ahead of the carrier’s annual meeting in Dublin.
In results published after the agm had concluded, Ryanair said of the shares cast, just 60.7 per cent voted for the pay package with 39.3 per cent voting against.
Under the deal, struck over the summer and designed to keep O’Leary at the airline, he would receive an option to buy 10 million shares, which could net him at least €150 million.
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The package was devised to replace O’Leary’s current pay arrangement, under which he stands to gain up to €100 million in return for doubling the carrier’s post-tax earnings or overseeing a share price rise of 80 per cent. That deal, unveiled in 2019, also suffered pushback, with almost half of Ryanair’s investors refusing to back the deal.
O’Leary has repeatedly defended his remuneration packages, saying he is paid a modest basic salary and only receives significant sums if the airline hits stretching financial performance targets.
“If we hit the targets the shareholders will be thrilled with themselves,” he said earlier this year.
Under the latest deal, the long-time Ryanair chief will be able to exercise his options if the share price hits €42 – a rise of two-thirds on the current price – or if the company’s post-tax profits rise by about 75 per cent to €4 billion.
While a significant number of investors refused to back the deal, others defended the arrangement.
“Michael O’Leary is one of Europe’s very best CEOs ... and has provided great long-term investment returns to shareholders,” said Andrew Hollingworth at VT Holland Advisors equity fund, an investor in the airline. “Investors should welcome an aligned incentive package that will keep him at the airline for another six years.”
O’Leary has grown Ryanair into the largest carrier in Europe and become one of the most profitable airlines in the industry. Shares have fallen about a quarter this year, with the Iran conflict dragging global airline stocks lower.
The outspoken executive said previously that his next contract will be his last before he hands over to a “nicer” successor.
He became embroiled in a public spat with Elon Musk in January after he ruled out adding Starlink internet to the airline’s planes, with the Tesla boss asking his social media followers at one point whether he should mount a takeover of the carrier.
In advance of the agm he described some rival airlines as “high-fare rapists,” drawing criticism from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, among others. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
