Ferguson £2m-a-year job was axed last year as part of Ratcliffe's cut-backs.
The Ineos chief detailed the meeting he held with former United manager Ferguson when speaking with BBC Sport: "I take my hat off to Alex.
"I sat down with Alex, just the two of us in the room, and I said 'look, the club isn’t where you may think it is. It is spending more than it’s earning and we’re going to finish up in some difficulties. Honestly, we can’t really afford to continue to pay you £2 million a year'.
"I said 'I’m going to leave it with you, let you have a think about it'.
"It was very grown up. Maybe a little bit grumpy at the beginning but he got it, and he came back three days later, after talking to his son, and said 'fine, I’m going to step away from it. My decision'.
"I think it reflects really well on Alex, because he put the club before himself."