Ryan Reynolds’ new £50m purchase and net worth after divorce from Hollywood star.
Ryan Reynolds has joined forces with another Hollywood actor to buy another sports teams, following the astonishing success of his takeover of Wrexham AFC with Rob McElhenney.
Alongside McElhenney, Reynolds has overseen the Welsh club’s rise from non-league to the Championship in just four seasons, as they became the first side in history to win three consecutive promotions in the top five leagues of English football. The fairytale run has put Wrexham on the map across the world, with the club now one more promotion away from the heights of the Premier League.
However, Reynolds has now teamed up with his close friend and Deadpool & Wolverine co-star Hugh Jackman in a completely new sporting venture, with the pair announcing that they now own an Australian sailing team named the BONDS Flying Roos.
The recently rebranded team competes in the SailGP international sailing competition, a competition which the likes of Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe, actress Anne Hathaway, F1 star Sebastian Vettel and boxer Deontay Wilder have also invested in.
Reynolds and McElhenney already also hold stakes in Mexican football team Club Necaxa, Colombian side La Equidad and Formula One team Alpine, but this is Jackman’s first foray into sports ownership.
“We’re incredibly excited to set sail together in this new adventure,” Reynolds and Jackman said in a statement. “Hugh brings a deep love for and pride in his home country as well as being an avid fan of sailing.
“He will also be bringing his overly clingy emotional support human along for the ride. Apologies in advance to Australia.”
While the amount that Reynolds and Jackman paid for the team has not been officially disclosed, it is estimated that they paid at least $50 million (£37 million) between them.
In light of the Wrexham co-owner’s new venture, we take a look at how he made his huge fortune and the important people who have been alongside him on his way to the top.
Astonishing net worth
Reynolds is believed to boast a jaw-dropping net worth of an estimated $400 million (£295 million), having been named as one of Hollywood’s highest earners.
The film star was ranked by Forbes as the second highest paid actor in the world in 2024, with the huge £79 million sum he pocketed putting him just behind Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in the fortune stakes.
Much of his success last year came from his hit Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine, while family film IF and Emmy-winning documentary Welcome to Wrexham also contributed.
Reynolds has supplemented his Hollywood earnings with a series of savvy investment moves, acquiring up to a 20 per cent stake in American gin company Aviation Gin before selling in a massive $600 million (£443 million) deal in 2020.
He also sold a substantial stake in telecoms firm Mint Mobile to T-Mobile in 2023, with the huge $1.35 billion (£997 million) deal seeing him pocket over $300 million (£220 million) alone.
The Deadpool star has made a sizeable investment in Wrexham, with he and fellow co-owner McElhenney believed to have pumped more than £20 million of their own money into the club since taking over in 2020.
In 2023, an episode of Welcome to Wrexham revealed that they had lost around $12 million (£8.9 million) since taking over the club, with Reynolds responding by saying: “I’m going to throw up.”
Life with famous wife after Hollywood divorce
Reynolds has been married to Gossip Girl star Blake Lively since 2012, having met the actress on the set of Green Lantern.
As their relationship blossomed, they soon became one of Hollywood’s most beloved power couples and tied the knot at a private ceremony in South Carolina before going on to welcome four children – James, Inez, Betty and Olin – together.
Lively has often made the trip to Wrexham alongside her husband to cheer on the team at the Racecourse Ground, and paid a gushing tribute to the city after they secured promotion to the Championship in April.
“Back to back to back,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “History was made. Congratulations to @wrexham_afc. I will never forget the love and elation in that town today. Thank you for sharing it with us always.
“And to these two men, @robmcelhenney & @vancityreynolds … the love and respect that pours out of you each and together exponentially grows and creates more joy, more possibilities, more magic, more history,” the actress added.
“This picture feels to me like a painting of all you do for so many, while being so present and appreciative of every moment.”
Before he met Lively, Reynolds had been no stranger to high-profile romances, having previously been engaged and married to some of the most famous women in showbusiness.
In 2004, he got engaged to fellow Canadian Alanis Morissette, having met the singer at Drew Barrymore’s birthday party two years earlier. They split up in 2007, with Morrissette citing the pressures of fame as a contributing factor, but they have remained close friends ever since.
Reynolds – who has also been linked to actresses Sandra Bullock, Melissa Joan Hart, and Charlize Theron – soon began dating actress Scarlett Johansson and they got married in 2008, tying the knot in a private ceremony in Vancouver.
However, they parted ways in 2010, with both Reynolds and Johansson admitting that the relationship fell apart due to their busy schedules and a lack of quality time spent together.
“We work and then go home,” the actress later told Time Out. “I’d just stare at the wall for a few hours before I got to sleep.”
Friendship with Rob McElhenney
While they have overseen one of the most remarkable changes in fortune in football history together, Reynolds and McElhenney weren’t really friends when they moved to buy Wrexham, having only interacted with each other online on a couple of occasions.
Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t Reynolds’ idea to take over a football club, with McElhenney instead leading the charge having worked with British comedy writer and football fan Humphrey Ker, who gave him the inspiration to invest in a team.
While he was not overly interested in football, McElhenney was intrigued by Ker’s love of Liverpool FC and, as a result, the script writer recommended that he watch Netflix series Sunderland ‘Til I Die during the coronavirus pandemic.
The series fascinated the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star and led him to decide that he wanted his own football club to make his own documentary about.
After the actor determined his budget, Ker then helped him pick out some suitable candidates – with Wrexham standing out to McElhenney due to the club’s history, passionate fanbase and need for new investment in the wake of the pandemic.
He then reached out to Reynolds – who had previously messaged him about his favourite Always Sunny scene – to try and secure further money to invest and attach another big name to the club.
Reynolds was excited about the idea and did not want to be simply a sponsor, but a co-owner alongside McElhenney.
In November 2020, the duo bought the club for £2 million and the rest is history – with the two now very good friends despite not meeting in person until April 2021.
McElhenney has since told People that Reynolds is one of his closest friends, describing him as a “kind and generous soul, and somebody you can rely on.”
Hailing the actor as a “truly inspiring person,” he added: “Our families have grown incredibly close, and even though we live on opposite coasts, we feel like we’re right next to each other.”
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