Ryan Reynolds is proving to be quite the businessman.
On Wednesday, T-Mobile announced it was acquiring Mint Mobile, one of several businesses that count Reynolds as an investor, for $1.35 billion.
While the amount he owns remains undisclosed, it’s reportedly “significant,” according to Bloomberg. Variety reports his stake could be as much as 25%.
“Mint Mobile is the best deal in wireless and today’s news only enhances our ability to deliver for our customers,” Reynolds said in a statement released by T-Mobile on Wednesday.
“We are so happy T-Mobile beat out an aggressive last-minute bid from my mom Tammy Reynolds as we believe the excellence of their 5G network will provide a better strategic fit than my mom’s slightly-above-average mahjong skills,” the actor-turned-entrepreneur joked.
“I am so proud of the entire Mint team and so excited for what’s to come,” Reynolds added.
America’s second-largest cell phone company will pay $1.35 billion for Mint with a combination of 39% cash and 61% stock, according to the statement. As part of the deal, Reynolds will remain in his creative role on behalf of the company too.
As part of the media announcement, Reynolds, and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert released a short video announcing the acquisition. The humor-infused video was produced by one of Reynolds’ other ventures, Maximum Effort Advertising and features Sievert talking seriously about the merger and Reynolds saying funny one-liners like, “Nice to have a new dad!” before giving his new partner a hug.
This isn’t the first major business deal in recent years for the business-savvy Reynolds. In 2020, he sold his Aviation American Gin to European beverage company Diageo as part of a deal worth an estimated $610 million.
In the wake of news of the massive acquisition, the Deadpool star, 43, set up his email at the alcohol brand with a hilarious out-of-office message in which he apologized to a long list of people — including wife Blake Lively — for jokingly telling them “to go f––kf themselves in the last 24 hours” after learning how much money he would make in the sale.
“Thanks for your email. I am currently out of the office but will still be very hard at work selling Aviation Gin. For quite a long time, it seems,” his auto-response read.
The actor, who was the creative director and the co-owner of the brand alongside majority owner Davos Brands, will continue to have an ongoing ownership interest with Aviation Gin despite its sale.
In a further side venture, Reynolds co-owns Welsh soccer team Wrexham with fellow actor, Rob McElhenney.