Mr O’Leary also quipped that the low cost airline would be better off if they didn’t have someone “who was always shouting and swearing and actively lighting fires.”
The 64-year-old has been in talks to extend his contract for “three to five years” beyond its current end in 2028.
Speaking to The Financial Times this weekend, Mr O’Leary said that he would make his exit in “five to 10 years” and was adamant that he does not “want to hang around till 96 like [Warren] Buffett.”
He explained: “My contract runs out in ’28. We’re in talks at the moment about extending that. In ’28 I’ll be 67. I can’t see any reason not to do another three to five-year period of time but, to my mind, I suspect we’re coming to the end of it at that stage.”
“Taking me out at some point in the next five to 10 years would give Ryanair the opportunity to be a little bit softer and a little bit nicer,” he said. “Ryanair would be better off if they didn’t have someone who was always shouting and swearing and actively lighting fires.”
Last month, the maverick CEO had laid into “bullshit regulations” which he said had been “invented by idiots in the European parliament”.
He also criticised the UK chancellor Rachel Reeves for “taxing the sh*t out of everything that moves”.
Over the years, his provocative views and outspoken nature have been credited for helping keep the company in the headlines while his unrivalled business acumen has kept the airline’s costs low.
He is famous for revolutionizing budget air travel in Europe through his leadership at Ryanair, a company started by the late businessman and Mr O’Leary’s mentor Tony Ryan.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary.
Today’s News in 90 Seconds. Saturday, December 13
In 2009 he even suggested that Ryanair would potentially charge passengers to use toilets.
O’Leary explained how “succession is always a risk.”
“If I were to die tomorrow — and we’ve had this discussion on the board — the senior team can clearly mind the business for the next year or so, but the next level down, who are in their early to mid-forties, they don’t know any other way to run a business.”
In July, in an interview with the Sunday Independent, O’Leary name-checked four potential young candidates from within the airline who could take over his role when he finally steps down.
He said the four managers – all in their 30s or 40s – would be much better placed to take his role as group CEO than people drafted in from Aer Lingus, BA or Lufthansa.