He does not run away from controversies, rather takes media banters head-on ! Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, who is up for a $108 million bonus if certain conditions are met, doesn’t see the high CEO pay as a problem, and he defends it with examples.
The Ryanair boss, has rather compared himself to Spanish football manager Pep Guardiola while defending his upcoming €100m bonus.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he said Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary has said he won’t put up with any “mewling nonsense” over City executives’ hefty pay packets as Premier League managers Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp get £25m a year.
O’Leary is up for a €100m (£84.6m) bonus from Ryanair under an agreement made in the year 2019. The bonus is set to payout if Ryanair’s share price hits €21 and stays there for 28 days, or the airline reporting €2.2bn in annual post-tax profit, would be one of the biggest in corporate European history.
O’Leary, explained that there’s never a fuss made about the humungous amounts paid to football managers but that there is for businessmen. He said,
“If I do get it (the €100m bonus), all the city types will be railing against excessive executive pay and I’m not putting up with any of that mewling nonsense.
“Footballers are getting half a million a week. Pep, who I think is a genius and deserves every penny, is getting £25m a year. Klopp too. And nobody says boo.
“Yet some guy running a serious business employing 20,000 plus people gets paid £5m or £10m and it’s suddenly excessive.”
O’Leary added that his potential bonus comes after years of hard work expanding Ryanair’s business in Europe. He also explained that the bonus comes via shareholders and is not a company bonus. He added,
“If you turned round to any investor, as we did with ours, and said ‘the share price is €11, if we double it to €21 would you give me options over €10m,’ then every one of them would do it.”
The said incentive scheme was originally scheduled to expire in the year 2024 but was extended by four years some 18 months ago when Ryanair’s share price was languishing below €13 post-pandemic.
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While talking about the success story of Ryanair, O’Leary said it’s largely down to him being a ‘boring’ Trinity educated accountant.
As per him, accountants should be put in charge of the airlines, He further added,
“Airlines for many years were run by former pilots, who were only interested in flying the next toy. What we’ve demonstrated at Ryanair is that you put the accountants in charge and it will be dull, boring and repetitive, but actually, we’re very good at delivering."
“You should put accountants in charge of the world. It will be dull and boring but they will do the detail and they will do the execution. We’re a much-maligned species.”
Ryanair is expected to show around €1.9bn post-tax profit for the year that ended March 31, which will not qualify O’Leary’s for the bonus as per the agreement.
However, going with the alternate condition, Ryanair’s stock has passed the €21 few times for short spells since late March after rising more than 50 per cent last year to record highs. At present, Its share price hovers just over €20.
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