Actor Ryan Reynolds, star of the Deadpool franchise, acquired and later sold a part-ownership stake in wireless brand Mint Mobile.
Photographer: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
‘Telecom Is the New Tequila’: Behind the Celebrity Wireless Boom
How Ryan Reynolds, the Trump brothers and other big names leveraged their fame to launch mobile services.
Actor and producer Ryan Reynolds put a new spin on celebrity investment trends in 2019, when he acquired a part-ownership stake in wireless brand Mint Mobile, becoming the face of the company. The gamble by the Deadpool star was so successful that T-Mobile US Inc. bought the brand for $1.35 billion last year. Reynolds blazed a trail for other A-listers who believed they could leverage their fame to strike lucrative deals in the wireless industry — without having to become wireless experts themselves.
“A lot of celebrities are looking at what Ryan Reynolds has done with Mint Mobile and saying, ‘Hey, wait a second. He marketed himself, he sold this product. He didn’t run the mobile network. He didn’t own the infrastructure. How hard can this be?’” said Michael Lazarus, managing member of Telecommunications Law Professionals.
The SmartLess podcast hosts and actors Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes followed suit in early June by fronting their own brand, SmartLess Mobile, on the T-Mobile network. Days later, President Donald Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr. announced their own Trump Mobile venture that will let users choose their preferred network; it also includes the option to buy a gilded smartphone.