Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham confronted by major £13.4bn challenge in the Championship
Wrexham co-chairmen Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will be in the same division as some incredibly wealthy owners in the Championship next season, including several billionaires
Wrexham's Hollywood owners are bracing themselves for a new financial landscape as the club gears up to compete in the Championship. The upcoming campaign will be the first time in 43 years that the Red Dragons have graced the second tier, having previously enjoyed a four-season stint in the old Second Division between 1978 and 1982.
Times have certainly changed since then, with large amounts of money swirling around due to lucrative TV broadcast deals and parachute payments for relegated Premier League teams.
Many club owners are also flush with riches, with one part-owner boasting an eye-watering net worth of a staggering £13.4billion.
Wrexham 's co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are not exactly strapped for cash either. The two A-listers have an estimated combined net worth of roughly £295m ($400m) courtesy of their acting earnings and business ventures.
However, even their wealth seems modest when compared to the Championship's top earners. As the Welsh team readies itself for life in the second tier, Mirror Football examines how Reynolds and McElhenney's wealth compares to that of their rival owners.
QPR often feature at the higher end of the scale in terms of their owners' combined net worth, with their main shareholders being Ruben Gnanalingam, Richard Reilly and Amit Bhatia. Bhatia is the son-in-law and a representative of steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, who alone is reported to be worth £13.4bn, according to Forbes.
Not far behind are American investment fund Gamechanger 20 Ltd, who own newly-relegated Ipswich, with the firm reportedly valued at a whopping £10.8bn. Leicester, another well-backed side that recently dropped out of the Premier League, is owned by the Srivaddhanaprabha family, worth an estimated £2.7bn.
Bristol City 's owner Steve Lansdown boasts a fortune of £2.3bn, while Stoke City 's John Coates is said to be worth £2.2bn. At the lower end of the wealth scale are Watford 's Gino Pozzo (£93m), Millwall 's James Berylson (£110m) and Hull City 's Acun Ilicali (£147m).
The combined net worth of Reynolds and McElhenney would place Wrexham in a lower mid-table position in the Championship. However, they have a trump card in the form of the Allyn family from New York, who became minority owners of the club in October.
For over a century, the family owned US medical device manufacturing company Welch Allyn Inc. until it was sold to Hill-Rom in September 2015 in a deal reported to be worth just under £1.5bn at current rates. The Allyns have since shifted their focus to investing in private and public markets, and Wrexham have received several substantial cash injections since their arrival.
It's hoped their involvement will help Reynolds and McElhenney realise their dream of taking the club into the Premier League.
Deadpool actor Reynolds proudly reflected on the club's leap from League One after a triumphant 3-0 win against Charlton at home in April.
Writing on social media, he posted: "We've been with Wrexham for what seems like the blink of an eye, but so much has happened. I remember the first press conference, we were asked what our goals were. I think Rob jumped in with, 'The Premier League.' People laughed. They had every right to. It seemed insane. But we weren't kidding."
Having already bolstered Wrexham's financial stability, the co-owners wisely insured against the cost of promotion bonuses for the 2024/25 season. However, aiming for promotion from the Championship could be the most formidable task yet on their fairytale adventure.
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Wrexham AFC is the arguably the fastest-growing club in the world at the moment thanks to a certain Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
The Dragons have achieved two consecutive promotions and are cheered on by crowds from not only North Wales but also from all over the globe, thanks to the success of the Disney+ documentary 'Welcome to Wrexham'.
But does it have a dedicated, quality source of information piped through to your inbox each week, free of ads but packed with informed opinion, analysis and even a little bit of fun each week? That's where Wrexham is the Game steps in...
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