Actor Ryan Reynolds’s Mint Mobile sale to earn him an estimated €280 million

Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds is set to make over €280 million after the sale of Mint Mobile.

The Canadian actor sold his stake in the prepaid budget wireless provider to telecoms operator T-Mobile as part of a larger cash-and-stock deal, worth as much as €1.26 billion.

T-Mobile, the second-largest mobile phone carrier in the US, is buying Mint parent Ka'ena Corporation to expand its prepaid phone business and acquire more lower-income users.

The Deadpool star owns a reported 25 per cent of Mint Mobile.

“I never dreamt I’d own a wireless company and I certainly never dreamt I’d sell it to T-Mobile," Reynolds said in a tweet. “Life is strange and I’m incredibly proud and grateful.”

As well as being one of the highest-paid actors worldwide, Reynolds is also the co-owner of Welsh football team Wrexham AFC and sold his gin brand, Aviation American Gin, to spirits giant Diageo in 2020 for a reported €570 million.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, he had a net worth of €140 million before the deal. He could receive €65 million in cash after tax and €192 million worth of T-Mobile stock, the wealth tracker reports.

Lucrative non-acting projects

Reynolds is one of many celebrities investing in non-acting projects, which represent lucrative business opportunities, sponsorships and deals.

Wines and spirits are a common favourite amongst Hollywood A-listers.

In 2017, George Clooney sold Casamigos Tequila to Diageo for $1 billion (€933 million) while Moët Hennessy bought a 50 per cent stake in Jay-Z's Armand de Brignac Champagne in 2021.

Kendall Jenner and Eva Longoria also have their own brands of Tequila - 818 Reposado Tequila and Casa Del Sol respectively - while Mast-Jägermeister acquired a stake in Dwayne Johnson's Teremana Tequila in 2022.

Kylie Minogue has also sold more than 8 million bottles of Kylie Minogue Wine since its launch in 2020 and the pop star plans to launch a pink champagne variety.

Meanwhile, the nearly €375-a-bottle brut rosé Champagne produced by Champagne house Fleur de Miraval, which is co-owned by Brad Pitt, made its second starring role at the Oscars this year.

Celebrity product placement

Not only do celebs invest in their own booze brands, some also make sure they are splashed all over their latest films.

Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds made the most of this in Netflix’s Red Notice, for example. According to Concave Brand Tracking, out of the 1 hour 58 minutes runtime, around 28 minutes of the movie were dedicated to product placement, including Johnson’s brand of Tequila Teremana and Reynold’s Aviation Gin, profiting the stars €37 million in sales.

Johnson seemed to be making fun of this by sharing footage to his Instagram of himself and actress Emily Blunt enjoying a shot of Tequila Teremana (also the official vodka of the XFL football league) ahead of Oscars night 2023.

Outside of alcohol, celebrity interest and investment in tech companies have significantly increased over the last decade.

Actor and film producer Ashton Kutcher is also known as one of the top Silicon Valley investors, having invested in companies such as Uber, Skype and Airbnb through his venture capital firm A-Grade Investments. In the space of six years, the firm turned a €28 million fund into a €235 million one.

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Elsewhere, actor Jared Leto has nearly 20 companies in his portfolio and made early investments in companies like Uber and Airbnb, all of which earned him a net worth of approximately €84 million. U2 singer Bono, he didn't just rack up his fortune through music alone, earning around €40 million from early investment in Facebook in 2009.

As for Austrian-American actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, he amassed a fortune of €420 million by investing in real estate and early-stage investments in startups, such as Alphabet (aka Google).

Another top celebrity investor is Will Smith who, by investing in 26 companies over the years, amassed €876 million in 2022.

But by far the most successful celebrity investor can't be found on the big screen, but rather near the courts. Indeed, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, has stakes in 217 companies - according to online investment portal Invezz. Companies that Cuban has invested in have raised over €3.08 billion.