Did Ryan Reyolds sell his Gin brand? ( Photo Credit – Instagram )
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In 2020, Ryan Reynolds decided being Deadpool wasn’t cutting it anymore. So, what did he do? He just sold his gin brand, Aviation American Gin, for a cool $610 million. The guy straight-up pulled one of the slickest boss moves Hollywood’s ever seen.
Here’s the scoop: Diageo—the powerhouse behind Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker—cut a deal that started with $335 million upfront. The rest? A tasty $275 million could roll in over 10 years, depending on how much gin everyone drinks. But Reynolds didn’t walk away wholly—he held onto a slice of ownership, staying part of the Aviation story.
Rewind to 2018, when Reynolds bought into Aviation Gin, a brand that had been kicking around since 2006. Not only did he throw his star power behind it, but he also steered the marketing through his own company, Maximum Effort Marketing. And, surprise, surprise, he crushed it. He said that diving into the gin game was “among the most fulfilling projects I’ve ever been involved with.” And because he’s Ryan, he joked the next chapter would need “just as little reading.”
But let’s be honest—gin wasn’t the only thing on his plate. In 2019, Ryan grabbed a stake in Mint Mobile, a budget-friendly wireless carrier (because why not?). He also joined the board of Match Group, the Tinder and Match.com overlords. He was out here building an empire while cracking jokes.
And while $610 million is vast, Reynolds wasn’t precisely the first celeb to hit the liquor jackpot. George Clooney set the bar sky-high in 2017 when he sold Casamigos Tequila to Diageo for $1 billion. Yep, billion. But Reynolds? He held his own, making gin the drink of choice for anyone wanting to feel a bit cooler.
It helped that gin was having a moment in the U.S., with distillers raking in nearly a billion bucks in 2019 alone. Aviation Gin flew right into that boom, and Reynolds’ magic touch turned it into a standout in the game.
So yeah, Ryan Reynolds wasn’t just playing businessman—he was killing it. From making gin a vibe to turning cell phone plans into a flex, he proved he’s got moves both on and off-screen. Cheers to that!
