The newly nice Michael O’Leary can afford to smile. As a substantial shareholder in what is now Europe’s biggest airline by number of passengers flown, the Ryanair chief executive’s net worth jumped by about €43m (£31m) on Monday morning as its share price rose.
His holding, last reported at 51.4m shares, was valued at €675m at 8am and €718m by lunch after a round of interviews and presentations in which he confirmed that the sale of Ryanair’s stake in Aer Lingus would be returned to shareholders this month.
That should mean another €15m or so paid into the O’Leary coffers. With investors once again lured to airline stocks in the past few years, the value of O’Leary’s shareholding in the airline has more than doubled. In his role as chief executive, he also earns an €800,000 salary and as much again in bonuses.
