Product Description

Michael O'Leary is a business giant. He transformed Ryanair from a loss-making joke of an Irish carrier into one of the most valuable airlines in the world, and in the process he has revolutionized the very nature of commercial aviation. In this, the first biography of O'Leary, Alan Ruddock portrays the man in three dimensions and examines the business miracle – often talked about but poorly understood – that O'Leary has wrought.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34633 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Review
'Ruddock's fast-paced retelling of Ryanair's rise and rise confirms O'Leary's insistence that his success has little to do with the management maxims of business gurus and everything to do with graft and ruthless attention to detail' Observer'Ruddock tells what is probably the definitive Ryanair story and is able to make what could have been a dry business history into a good read' Sunday Independent'The fullest and most accurate picture of O'Leary to date' Irish Daily Mail'Ruddock does a good job of telling the Ryanair story' Irish Times'Unlike previous books which simply chart the growth of the airline, this one is bound to get under O'Leary's skin because it reveals a great deal about his hugely driven character' Irish Independent'Ruddock is good on the flavour of the man, a bundle of energy whose two favourite words start with an F and an S (they aren't flower and sugar)' Irish Examiner

About the Author
Alan Ruddock, a contemporary of Michael O'Leary's at Trinity College,Dublin, is a former business journalist with the Sunday Times and former editor of the Scotsman. He is currently a commentator with the Sunday Independent, Ireland's largest-selling newspaper.

Customer Reviews

More Ryanair than O'Leary
Wrting a biography of Michael O'Leary, the notoriously combative boss of Irish low-cost airline Ryanair, was never going to be an easy task. O'Leary apparently had no interest in the book and did not co-operate with the project, though he did grant the author a few interviews in his capacity as a newspaper journalist. Perhaps for this reason, this is more a book about Ryanair than about O'Leary himself. His childhood and education are covered in the first few pages, and references to his private life (his country home, his cattle breeding, his marriage) are few and far between. But we learn a lot about his accountancy background, his obsession with cost-cutting, his relentless battles with all authorities that obstruct his airline's development, his brilliant manipulation of events and situations to maximise publicity for Ryanair, and his general ruthlessness. Surprisingly, the impact of other low-cost airlines hardly features at all - even Easyjet is barely mentioned. But it's the best book on Ryanair I've seen so far.

A well researched read
I enjoyed this book, although (as others who have reviewed the book will confirm), this book is not really about Michael O'Leary and gives very little information and understanding of the man. It is really about Ryanair and I think the book would be better being called about Ryanair. It tells the history of the business and how it went from a complete financial and business model mess into the amazing business it is today. It tells how the focus and drive of Michael O'Leary was so key and how he used so cleverly PR and pressure to carve it out. Well worth a read. I have read other books such as the book about GO which was also interesting, but this book was even better.

No Bull from Mr O'Leary
A great book about the legend that is Michael O'Leary, read the background of the man who brought cheap flights for most European's to places they never heard of. How he started with a couple of small shops and became the boss of one of Europe's biggest airlines. Very Enjoyable.