Elon Musk Vs. Ryanair’s CEO Just Turned Into A Betting Game — And Traders Are Now Wagering On A Full-Blown Takeover – Yahoo Finance
A public war of words between Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ:RYAAY) CEO Michael O’Leary has spilled into prediction markets.
On Friday, Bettors on Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction platform, are mullying the chances of Musk buying Ryanair.
🚨 NEW POLYMARKET: Will Elon Musk buy Ryan Air?https://t.co/8zLAql3WU4
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At the time of writing, the contract showed traders assigning just a 9% chance, with odds falling sharply over time and remaining firmly in single digits.
The declining trend and low trading volume indicate that market participants largely view a Musk-led Ryanair takeover as highly unlikely despite the high-profile Starlink feud.
Source: Polymarket
The bet follows an escalating dispute between Musk and O’Leary over Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service for aircraft, which several major airlines have begun adopting.
Ryanair did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
The clash began after O’Leary dismissed Starlink’s value for Ryanair’s short-haul, no-frills model, telling Reuters that passengers on one-hour flights are unwilling to pay for Wi-Fi.
He said that they don’t think their passengers would be willing to pay for WiFi for an average one-hour flight, adding that installing Starlink would cost Ryanair between $200 million and $250 million annually.
Musk pushed back on X, writing that Ryanair would “lose customers to airlines that do have internet.”
Yup.
Also, they will lose customers to airlines that do have Internet.
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The SpaceX CEO also said, “I doubt they can even measure the difference in fuel use accurately, especially for a one hour flight, where the incremental drag is basically zero during the ascent phase due to high angle of attack.”
He is being misinformed. I doubt they can even measure the difference in fuel use accurately, especially for a one hour flight, where the incremental drag is basically zero during the ascent phase due to high angle of attack.
And compared to most other connectivity solutions,…
O’Leary escalated the rhetoric in an Irish radio interview, saying people should pay “no attention” whatsoever to Musk, before calling him “an idiot.”
Musk responded by labeling O’Leary an “utter idiot” and adding: “Fire him.”
Ryanair CEO is an utter idiot. Fire him.
While speaking with Reuters, O’Leary also said that Starlink antennas impose a 2% fuel penalty due to weight and drag. SpaceX executives disputed that figure.
Michael Nicolls, SpaceX’s vice president of Starlink engineering, said on X that internal analysis showed Starlink increased fuel burn by about 0.3% on a Boeing 737-800.
A 2% fuel impact might be true for legacy terminals, but @Starlink‘s terminal is much lower profile and more efficient. Our analysis shows that the fuel increase to a 737-800 (which burns 800 gallons/hour) with our current design is about 0.3%. Also beg to differ on whether… https://t.co/ZtHanpPT7P
Musk replied: “Hmm, must be a way to get that down under 0.1%.”
Hmm, must be a way to get that down under 0.1%
The dispute erupted as more European carriers embrace SpaceX’s Starlink, which offers high-speed satellite internet on aircraft.
German airline Deutsche Lufthansa (OTC:DLAKY) announced plans this week to roll out the service, while Scandinavian Airlines operated its first Starlink-equipped flight a day later.
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This article Elon Musk Vs. Ryanair's CEO Just Turned Into A Betting Game — And Traders Are Now Wagering On A Full-Blown Takeover originally appeared on Benzinga.com
