Simple it may be, but it has proved astoundingly successful. Ryanair was founded in 1985 and struggled to survive its birth pains. By 1988, when its founder, the Irish entrepreneur Tony Ryan, sent O'Leary into the company to see whether it could be rescued, Ryanair was on the brink of collapse as losses mounted and profitability seemed an impossible dream. O'Leary wanted to shut the business but Ryan refused. Slowly and painfully it was stabilised, recording its first profit in 1991. . Its explosive growth had transformed not just the airline, but also the nature of air travel within Europe and had pitted it and its chief executive against the traditional titans of the industry - British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Alitalia - and the governments that still propped up much of European aviation with taxpayers' money.
O'Leary's transformation of Ryanair has seen him make the transition from consultant to manager to shareholder. Far from being a classic entrepreneur who chased his dream by risking his own capital, O'Leary has worked his way through the system, emerging as the largest individual shareholder in a company founded by a genuine entrepreneur, and simultaneously amassing a fortune of almost $500m. His wealth, however, has not diverted him from his cause - to make Ryanair the biggest airline in Europe. It is that ambition which drives the work ethic, which refuses to let him relent even though he has no need for money, fame or Ryanair.