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 .
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.
Sam Silverman is a content strategy editor at Entrepreneur Media. She specializes in search engine optimization (SEO), and her work can be found in The US Sun, Nicki Swift, In Touch Weekly, Life & Style and Health. Her coverage spans from business news, entrepreneurship, technology, and true crime, to the latest in entertainment and TV news. Sam is a graduate of Lehigh University and currently resides in NYC.
Sam Silverman