Thomas Anthony Ryan
(2 February 1936 – 3 October 2007
) was an Irish billionaire businessman and philanthropist who co-founded
Ryanair in 1984 along with cofounders Christopher Ryan and Liam Lonergan (owner of Irish travel agent Club Travel), 9 years after founding
Guinness Peat Aviation an international
aircraft leasing industry.
Through Guinness Peat Aviation and Ryanair, he amassed two fortunes by identifying gaps in the market.
Ryanair was believed to be the main source of his wealth in later life: the company became one of the biggest airlines in Europe and was worth approximately $13 billion at the time of his death.
Early life
Ryan was born at
Limerick Junction, County Tipperary on 2 February 1936; his father was a train driver. Around 1945 the family moved to
Thurles in the same county, and he attended the
Christian Brothers school there.
His hopes of attending university were ended by the death of his father, and instead he joined
Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish , meaning "air fleet") is an Irish airline company which is the flag carrier of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 201 ...
as a dispatch clerk, and was selected as a management trainee.
Business career
Ryan progressed through station manager roles to become, in 1968,
Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish , meaning "air fleet") is an Irish airline company which is the flag carrier of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 201 ...
station manager at
JFK Airport, New York.
The family returned to Ireland in 1972, where by chance he filled a vacancy in aircraft leasing, finding uses for aircraft that were surplus to the airline's requirements during the cyclical downturn.
In 1975, with financial support from Aer Lingus and the
Guinness Peat Group, he founded the aircraft leasing company Guinness Peat Aviation (later GPA Group), raising $5,000 for his 10% shareholding.
GPA grew to be the world's biggest aircraft lessor, its activities including
wet leasing. The company was worth $4 billion at its peak, but its value dramatically collapsed in 1992 after the cancellation of its planned
IPO. Ryan made €55m from the sale of
AerFi (the successor to GPA) in 2000.
Ryan was one of the co-founders of
Ryanair in 1984.
Michael O'Leary joined Ryanair in 1988 as chief financial officer (CFO), becoming chief executive officer (CEO) in 1994.
Two of Ryan's associates went on to become billionaires: O'Leary through Ryanair,
and
Denis O'Brien, who started his career as Ryan's personal assistant, through independent business ventures.
Other investments
In 2001, Ryan acquired
Castleton Farm near
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
from the Van Lennep Family Trust. Ryan renamed it Castleton Lyons after his Irish estate
Lyons Demesne, and undertook renovations to the property while returning to its original roots as a thoroughbred operation.
At the time of his death he owned 16% of
Tiger Airways, a discount carrier based in Singapore which was founded in December 2003.
He was a major shareholder in
Château Lascombes near
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
until his death. Other investments included Newcourt, Paddy Power, Providence, Tesco, Tullow Oil and UTV, and shares in private companies Conficius and Ginko Investments.
Philanthropy
Ryan was an active and innovative funder of university education in Ireland. He donated a marine science institute to
NUI Galway in 1993 which was named the Martin Ryan Marine Science Institute in honour of his father. He showed interest in marine science and aquaculture development in the west of Ireland. He also funded The Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship at the
Citywest park, that is run by
Dublin City University
Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...
.
Personal life
Ryan married his childhood sweetheart, Mairéad, in 1958 and they had three sons together. The couple separated while the boys were young but they were not divorced.
Ryan then began a series of affairs with well-connected women, beginning in the mid-1980s with
Lady Miranda Guinness, who had earlier separated from her husband
Benjamin Guinness, 3rd Earl of Iveagh.
Miranda tutored him in matters such as art collecting, fine wines, interior decoration and formal entertaining, and they worked together on redesigning the interior of a
Georgian house which Ryan had bought in
Pelham Place, South Kensington, London.
The relationship ended around 1991 but they remained close friends.
Later relationships included the Irish fashion designer
Louise Kennedy, and the interior designer Tiggy Butler, who oversaw the redesigns at two of Ryan's properties:
Lyons Demesne (County Kildare) and
Castleton Farm (Lexington, Kentucky). He spent more than €100million on the restoration of Lyons Demesne.
His last partner, up to the time of his death, was Martine Head, daughter of French horse trainer and breeder
Alec Head; together they shared a passion for horse-racing.
Ryan was a
tax exile who lived in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, but also owned a
stud farm near his home in Dolla,
County Tipperary
County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...
.
He was the 7th wealthiest individual from Ireland in the
Sunday Times Rich List 2007 with over €1.5bn (£1bn).
Death
Ryan died at his home
Lyons Demesne in
County Kildare
County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
on 3 October 2007, aged 71, following an 18-month illness with
pancreatic cancer.
He had other homes in London,
Castleton Lyons stud in
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
, and on
Ibiza. His estate was worth more than €95million at his death. In his will he left more than €20million to his estranged wife Mairéad, and more than €6million to Martine Head. He also left Château Lascombes wine worth €3million. Most of his wealth had already been entrusted to his children before his death.
His eldest son, Cathal, died three months later, aged 48, after being diagnosed with cancer.
Awards and honours
*1994, Order of the Aztec Eagle
*2002, Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement – presented at the International Achievement Summit in Dublin, Ireland
*2012, National Aviation Award: the inaugural award was presented to his family by Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar
Ryan held
honorary doctorates from several universities, including
Trinity College, Dublin, the
National University of Ireland, Galway and the
University of Limerick.
References
Further reading
* ''Ryanair: How a Small Irish Airline Conquered Europe'' by
Siobhan Creaton – : published about Ryanair's success and Tony Ryan's earlier enterprises.
*''Tony Ryan: Ireland's Aviator'' by
Richard Aldous.
External links
Short Reuters article about his deathMartin Ryan Marine Science Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Tony
1936 births
2007 deaths
21st-century Irish businesspeople
Irish aviation businesspeople
Ryanair
20th-century Irish businesspeople
Businesspeople from County Tipperary
Deaths from pancreatic cancer in the Republic of Ireland
People from Thurles
20th-century Irish philanthropists
21st-century Irish philanthropists
Irish company founders
Airline founders