Ryan Reynolds: “I’m no wizard” to invest

American actor and Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds waves to fans ahead of the English FA Cup fourth round soccer match between Wrexham and Sheffield United at the Racecourse Ground Stadium in Wrexham, north Wales, January 29, 2023 OLI SCARFF—AFP via Getty Images

Ryan Reynolds has admitted he’s “no wizard” when it comes to investing – despite raking in millions of dollars from well-timed business gambles in recent years.

On Monday, the Hollywood A-Lister appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss his recently announced investment in Canadian fintech company Nuvei.

Reynolds’ investment in Nuvei came just weeks after Mint Mobile, the wireless carrier in which Reynolds held an estimated 25% stake, was sold to telecom giant T-Mobile for $1.35 billion.

He told CNBC on Monday that he knew “nothing about fintech,” despite his investment in Nuvei, a Montreal-based firm that specializes in payment technology.

“Thank God I’m not running the company,” he joked. “My job is storytelling – I think at Maximum Effort our job would be more defined in not necessarily financial investment but emotional investment. If you look at a gin company, a wireless company and a Welsh football club, those things don’t go together if you think about it, but they all have strong brand fundamentals.”

The last few years have Deadpool star has built a reputation as a savvy investor thanks to bets on Aviation Gin, Toronto-based password manager 1Password, wealth management firm Wealthsimple and his digital marketing agency Maximum Effort.

In 2020, Aviation Gin was sold in a deal worth $610 million.

“For me, it’s about the creative [approach]- The financial investment side of it I’m no wizard at, it’s the emotional investment side, he told CNBC.

“I’m very fortunate to have an incredible team of people who are looking for exciting and interesting opportunities, places that have a strong brand foundation that has so much room to grow in terms of storytelling.”

Reynolds noted that the companies he considered investing in were usually not as mature as Nuvei.

“America gets a lot of credit for innovation, and I think there’s something pretty fun and interesting and a fun story to tell about Canada bending a little bit — this is already a multibillion-dollar global company with an amazing story to tell,” he so. “I think a lot of people are running away from fintech, [but] this is a company we are running against.”