Tony Ryan
| Tony Ryan | |
|---|---|
| Born |
2 February 1936 Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland |
| Died | 3 October 2007 (aged 71) Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland |
| Cause of death | Pancreatic cancer |
| Known for | Co-founder of Ryanair, Part Owner of Tiger Airways multimillionaire and benefactor |
| Net worth | Estimated at 800m-1bn euros |
| Children | Cathal Ryan (deceased), Declan Ryan, Shane Ryan |
Thomas Anthony "Tony" Ryan (2 February 1936 – 3 October 2007) was an Irish billionaire, philanthropist and businessman.
He was a founder of Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA) as well as co-founder of Ryanair with Christy Ryan and Liam Lonergan. Ryanair was believed to be the main source of his wealth in later life: the company is now one of the biggest airlines in Europe and is valued at over 10 billion US dollars as of 2012.
Ryan held honorary doctorates from several universities, including Trinity College, Dublin, the National University of Ireland, Galway and the University of Limerick.
Born in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ryan worked for Aer Lingus, before going on to found their aircraft leasing arm, wet-leasing out their aircraft in the quieter winter months.
In 1975, with Aer Lingus and the Guinness Peat Group, he founded Guinness Peat Aviation (later GPA Group), an aircraft leasing company, with a $50,000 investment. GPA grew to be the world's biggest aircraft lessor, 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 a tax exile who lived in Monte Carlo, but also owned a stud farm near his home in Dolla County Tipperary. He was the 7th wealthiest individual from Ireland in the Sunday Times Rich List 2007 with over €1.5bn(£1bn).
Ryan over the years helped nurture two successful business protégés – Denis O'Brien and Michael O'Leary – both of whom became billionaires.
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