How Ryan Reynolds became Canada's unlikeliest business mogul

UPDATE: After this story was originally published, Wrexham Football Club — which Ryan Reynolds and actor Rob McElhenney bought in 2021 — qualified for the fourth tier of the English football league system.

The business of Ryan Reynolds is booming. He bought into Montreal payment technology company Nuvei this week. He recently sold Mint Mobile for $1.7 billion. He offloaded his gin company for another $825 million.

But the jewel in Reynolds' business crown may be a floundering Welsh soccer club he bought with fellow actor Rob McElhenney in 2021 for $3 million.

For years, Wrexham Football Club has been languishing in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.

The actors poured in money for new stands and better players. Documents filed this week showed the team lost nearly $5 million in the last 12 months alone.

But now, the club is poised to finally earn a promotion to the next level.

With a win this weekend, Wrexham would climb out of the lowly National League and into the English League, one step closer to the vaunted Premier League.

"It's a big deal," said Canadian soccer legend Craig Forrest. "I mean, especially when you look at where this club Wrexham has come from."

The difference between the league Wrexham is trying to climb out of and the top of the football pyramid would be, Forrest puts it, like the difference between "the NHL and a pickup hockey league in the U.K."

Already, Reynolds has helped build the club with the same enthusiasm and self-deprecating charm that have brands across industries eager to join his team.

Forrest, who is now co-host of the podcast Footy Prime, played for the Canadian men's national team and spent years in the Premier League, even playing against