Build The Next Generation Of Media Empires: How Ryan Reynolds Did It

Ryan Reynolds has gone from a little known actor to a billionaire movie star. Companies he co-owns or has sold are valued at over $14 billion. Who wouldn’t want to follow his footsteps. But how? Is it enough to be goofy, authentic, laid-back, no-frills, satirical, and self-deprecating? That’s certainly a start, but his career’s meteoric rise is about more than personality. After all, the companies previously alluded to include Alpine F1 Racing Team, Wrexham Football Club, Aviation Gin, Mint Mobile and Maximum Effort Agency. Meaning, his success is also about more than acting. Reynolds’ success is about passion, action and talent—and how he channels them in order to channel his engaged fans.

Follow Your Passion

Ryan clearly has an entrepreneurial spirit, but he didn’t get into business by starting a business. Contrary to common misconception, Reynolds is not a founder of Aviation Gin, the spirits brand that he quickly became the face of. He started out as merely a fan. As Hunter Hammonds puts it, “He tasted that delicious gin one day and fell so in love that he had to own a piece!” Reynolds didn’t need an MBA to know that it was good gin, he trusted his own taste and the fact that if he felt this way, other people would, too. So in 2018, he bought an ownership stake in the business. And then, the business took off.

When you look at socials, it’s clear this is no coincidence. Aviation_american-gin has 16 followers on Instagram (and 11 posts); Ryan Reynolds’ has 49.7m followers. It’s no mystery which following contributed more to the $610m sale.

For Ryan, it’s not about flash. It’s about function. Or, as he puts it when speaking about Mint Mobile, “Pragmatic is sexy.” This ideology also extended to his investment in 1Password password management software. Reynolds investments are products he believes in, whether it’s underdog sports or software. The key thing is, when he believes in something, he already has a large fan base of people who believe in him.

Don’t Be Passive

Belief alone, however, wouldn’t have made Reynolds the mogul he is. Reynolds had listened to enough directors in his day that the word “action!” was never far from his mind. So when he became an investor, he did the same thing he did on set: he took action. Once he invested, Reynolds became the face of Aviation Gin. He did the same with Mint Mobile. With an estimated revenue of $45.9m and an estimated community size of 2.5m, the estimated value per engaged member is $540. Not bad considering that Mint Mobile plans start as low as $15/mo.

This is likely why, in most of his business ventures—including Alpine F1 Racing Team, Wrexham AFC, and even Deadpool—Reynolds’ investment has been no secret. Sure, Deadpool isn’t a business he owns, but as the lead actor, he was certainly invested in its success. So, rather than sit by and hope for it, Reynolds founded a creative agency to help promote it.

Use Your Skillset

Investors get involved in companies in many ways—making strategic suggestions, reviewing financials. But Reynolds wasn’t a business guy, he was an actor. So he did what he was good—no, he did what he was great at. Reynolds made goofy social media campaigns that went viral. He did it for Aviation Gin, where he even gives a shout out to his lack of business know-how. He was so good at what does know about, though, that he did it again and again, including for Match.com. And he managed to show off his chops for 1Password … and Wrexham at the same time. People don’t usually say, “Hey, you’re funny, go be a businessman,” but Reynolds realized that he had something that these boring companies and brands did not. So, he brought it to them and showed them the value of his talents: they bring community.

Be Your Business

When Reynolds’ career was first starting, many of us may have made the mistake of thinking that Ryan Reynolds’ business was acting. But the truth of it is, Ryan Reynolds’ business is being Ryan Reynolds. This is what’s made him so astronomically successful. Even if he’s playing different characters, he’s always Ryan Reynolds and his fan base engages with him and his videos and his compannes because of that.

Reynolds followed his gut and pursued things he believed in. He took action to get involved with products and projects he believed in. And he used the talents he’d refined over the entire course of his career in unexpected ways and in places where they were, arguably, most needed. And his community stuck with him.

During the strike, actors may think, “I can’t do anything.” That’s not true. They may not be able to act as other characters on screen, perform voice-over or promote produced acting projects, but Ryan Reynolds has shown that if an actor can find a way to continue to be in the business of themselves, they may just skyrocket to success, thanks to their engaged fan base.