Wrexham’s Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s stake in Alpine cost them NOTHING

Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have acquired a stake in the Alpine Formula One team as part of a £171m deal, without putting in any of their own money!

Paddock sources have told The Mail on Sunday that the A-list duo agreed to become part of a consortium taking a 24 per cent stake in the team, which is valued at around £700m following the investment, in return for their … fame.

American investment firms Otro Capital and RedBird Capital Partners have put cash into the consortium, while Reynolds and McElhenney are expected to generate revenues through their storytelling prowess, and perhaps a documentary series.

The F1 team are hoping their profile will rise as rapidly as that of Reynolds’ football club Wrexham. Reynolds and McElhenney plus actor Michel B Jordan co-own an investment company, Maximum Effort Investments, which is it understood will own around one tenth of the 24 per cent stake, or between two and three per cent of Alpine.

The cash injection has already started to pay off after Alpine paid off a £20m loan on their Oxfordshire-based headquarters this week. Alpine declined to comment on the structure of the consortium’s investment.

Alpine F1 are hoping to raise the profile of their team similar to Wrexham’s rise to stardom

Reynolds and McElhenney have proved their business acumen – as well as gained global attention – with their ‘Welcome To Wrexham’ documentary, telling the story of their takeover of the Welsh club. 

The triumphant rise back to the Football League in the 2022-23 season will feature in the next season; the show is a smash hit in the USA, where Wrexham will incidentally tour this summer.

The commercial appeal of the club – thanks to the actors’ involvement – has been underlined by the recent announcement that Wrexham’s new short sponsor will be the world’s biggest airline, United Airlines.

The US airline’s name and logo will be on the front of the club’s home, away and third shirts, as well as on the women’s kits.

Reynolds in particular is a serial entrepreneur, with a net fortune of around £280m and rising. As well as his earnings from a string of blockbuster movies, he had a stake in a gin brand, Aviation, that was sold to Diageo in 2020 for almost £500m, just months before snapping up Wrexham. 

He does or has also owned stakes in a mobile phone firm, Mint; in a company that runs numerous dating websites, Match Group; in a sports streaming company, FuboTV; and in a Canadian online financial services and investment firm, Wealthsimple.

Reynolds and McElhenney are expected to generate revenues through their storytelling skills