18 Facts About Tony Ryan

Thomas Anthony Ryan was an Irish billionaire businessman and philanthropist who co-founded Ryanair in 1984 along with cofounders Christopher Ryan and Liam Lonergan, 9 years after founding Guinness Peat Aviation an international aircraft leasing industry.

Tony Ryan was born at Limerick Junction, County Tipperary on 2 February 1936; his father was a train driver.

Tony Ryan progressed through station manager roles to become, in 1968, Aer Lingus station manager at JFK Airport, New York.

Tony Ryan was worth $4 billion at its peak, but its value dramatically collapsed in 1992 after the cancellation of its planned IPO.

In 2001, Tony Ryan acquired Castleton Farm near Lexington, Kentucky from the Van Lennep Family Trust.

Tony 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.

Tony Ryan was a major shareholder in Chateau Lascombes near Bordeaux until his death.

Tony Ryan was an active and innovative funder of university education in Ireland.

Tony Ryan donated a marine science institute to NUI Galway in 1993 which was named the Martin Ryan Marine Science Institute in honour of his father.

Tony Ryan showed interest in marine science and aquaculture development in the west of Ireland.

Tony Ryan funded The Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship at the Citywest park, that is run by Dublin City University.

Tony Ryan married his childhood sweetheart, Mairead, in 1958 and they had three sons together.

Tony 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 Tony Ryan had bought in Pelham Place, South Kensington, London.

Tony Ryan was a tax exile who lived in Monte Carlo, but owned a stud farm near his home in Dolla, County Tipperary.

Tony Ryan died at his home Lyons Demesne in County Kildare on 3 October 2007, aged 71, following an 18-month illness with pancreatic cancer.

Tony Ryan had other homes in London, Castleton Lyons stud in Kentucky, and on Ibiza.

Tony Ryan held honorary doctorates from several universities, including Trinity College, Dublin, the National University of Ireland, Galway and the University of Limerick.