Ryanair CEO O'Leary extends his contract, bonus scheme to 2028

Ryanair Group CE Michael O’Leary has agreed to extend his contract to 2028, Europe’s largest airline said on Wednesday, in a deal that will also extend a bonus scheme that could earn him close to E100m ($105m). O’Leary, 61, has repeatedly said in recent years that he had no plans to retire and in September said he hoped to soon reach a deal on extending his contract beyond its expiry in 2024. He has led the airline since 1994. “The Board are ... pleased that Michael O’Leary has agreed to extend his leadership of the Ryanair Group to July 2028,” Chairman Stan McCarthy said. The decision followed “extensive engagement” with large shareholders and proxy advisors. The extension of the contract and bonus scheme will be subject to shareholder approval, he said. Under the 2019 options scheme, which was due to lapse in 2024, O’Leary was due to be granted the option of buying 10m shares at E11.12 per share if he either increased annual profit to E2b or if the share price rises to E21 for 28 days. O’Leary’s efforts to reach those targets were knocked off course by the COVID-19 pandemic with the airline’s annual profit peaking at E1.45b in the year to March 31, 2018. Ryanair has said it hopes to earn a profit of E1-1.2b in the current financial year. Under the new contract, the expiry date of the 2019 share option scheme has been extended by four years to July 2028 and the target for after-tax profit increased to E2.2b, the statement said.<br/>