What Do a Gin Brand, a Soccer Club and a Formula 1 Team Have in Common? Ryan Reynolds. See All of the Movie-Star-Turned-Entrepreneur's Businesses and Investments Reynolds most recently bought a $218 million stake in the Alpine F1 team.
By Sam Silverman •
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Ryan Reynolds has his hands in many pots, from his on-screen roles to his major business ventures.
His early work in comedies like Waiting … and The Proposal led him to his most memorable role as the titular deadpan superhero in Deadpool, which was one of the top-grossing R-rated films of all time. The 2016 film grossed $783 million in worldwide ticket sales and was followed by an equally successful sequel, Deadpool 2, which grossed $785 million in worldwide ticket sales in 2018, per The Hollywood Reporter. Fans are anxiously awaiting the release of Deadpool 3 in May 2024.
Although Reynolds was reportedly only paid $2 million for the first Deadpool movie, he likely made many more millions from the film thanks to a backend deal where he would have received a percentage of the film's profits.
And Reynolds seems to keep making deals that put millions in his pockets.
He most recently made headlines for joining a group of celebrity investors in purchasing a 24% stake in the Alpine F1 team for a reported $218 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The group includes other investors like Reynolds' business partner and It's Always Sunny in Philadephia star Rob McElhenney and actor Michael B. Jordan. The team is owned by the Renault Group, a French auto manufacturer, which told the WSJ it hopes its new investors help with marketing and expansion efforts.
And marketing a great story seems to be the key to Reynolds' entrepreneurship.
"This lesson was driven home to me while shooting Deadpool," he told Entrepreneur in an April 2021 cover story.
"Every time the studio took money away from our budget, we replaced whatever set piece we lost with character. Eventually that became the hallmark and defining characteristic of that property ... you can penetrate the zeitgeist and make an impression without spending a ton of money, without busting the bank."
Keep scrolling for more details about Reynolds' businesses.
What businesses does Ryan Reynolds own?
Reynolds' journey to entrepreneurship started with his film production company and digital marketing agency Maximum Effort.
Founded in 2018 and named after his Deadpool character's catchphrase, the company has produced movies like Free Guy and The Adam Project and is partnered with Marvel Studios for Deadpool 3.
"We started to look at marketing as a completely different tool we had in the shed, and something we could really tell stories with," Reynolds told Entrepreneur.
Through his marketing agency, Reynolds has been able to market and grow his various business endeavors, including his Aviation Gin brand.
Reynolds purchased an unspecified minority stake in the liquor brand in 2018; the company sold to Diageo in 2020 for $610 million.
That same year, Reynolds purchased the Welsh football club Wrexham AFC with McElhenney for $2.5 million, per the Wall Street Journal. The duo chronicled their ownership journey in the documentary series Welcome to Wrexham, and the club was promoted from the fifth tier to the fourth tier of English soccer earlier this year.
In 2019, Reynolds purchased a 25% stake in Mint Mobile, a budget wireless provider, and has since been the commercial face of the brand. In March, T-Mobile acquired the company for $1.35 billion, which might have netted Reynolds more than $300 million, according to CNBC.
I only want the best for Mint Mobile customers. Think I've found it. pic.twitter.com/nSNmGKLmN2
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) March 15, 2023
Just one month after his Mint Mobile deal, Reynolds revealed he invested an undisclosed amount in Canadian payment company Nuvei.
He was also involved in a C$750 million ($610.40 million) funding round for Canadian fintech Wealthsimple, which received a C$5 billion valuation in 2021, per Reuters. In 2022, Reynolds was part of a $620 million Series C funding round for the password management platform 1Password, which valued the company at $6.8 billion.
Reynolds told CNBC's Squawk Box that it's all about "storytelling" and the "emotional investment" for him.
"If you look at a gin company, a wireless company and a Welsh football club, those things don't really go together," he told the outlet, "But they all had strong brand foundations when I got there."
His wife Blake Lively is also entrepreneurial
The Deadpool star isn't the only entrepreneur in the family. Reynolds' wife Blake Lively, with whom he shares four children, is also business-savvy.
In 2014, the Gossip Girl actress launched her lifestyle website Preserve, but it closed after only a year due to internal issues behind the scenes.
"I poured everything I had into that company," Lively told Entrepreneur in a January 2023 cover story, adding that closing the site "felt like a death."
However, Lively has bounced back with the launch of her Betty Buzz premium drink mixers.
After three years of product development, Betty Buzz debuted in September 2021. The company sold 2.5 million bottles in its first seven months and appeared in 5,500 stores across the country.
In the interview, Lively said the brand has sold more than six million bottles to date, which accounted for 24 percent of the entire mixer market in the fall of 2022. "So for one company to be responsible for a quarter of the growth of the entire category in the United States is — pretty cool," she said at the time.
Reintroducing @bettybuzz*
— Betty Buzz (@bettybuzz) January 17, 2023
*puppies not included pic.twitter.com/Q2zNyWGaYk
