Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney face up to £13.4billion reality after Wrexham promotion

Wales Online

19 hours ago

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney face up to £13.4billion reality after Wrexham promotion
Wrexham have achieved huge success under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, but now face a tough test in the Championship, where many clubs are well-backed
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds are facing up to the financial reality of the Championship
(Image: PA )
Wrexham's Hollywood owners are facing a stark new financial reality as the club prepares to compete in the Championship next season.
The new campaign will mark the first time in 43 years that the Red Dragons have played in the second tier after previously spending four seasons in the old Second Division between 1978 and 1982. A lot has changed since then, with plenty of money floating around thanks to lucrative TV deals and parachute payments on offer for newly-relegated Premier League sides.
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Many club owners are also very wealthy in their own right, with one part-owner boasting a net worth stretching to an astonishing £13.4billion. Wrexham's co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are hardly short of money themselves.
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The two A-listers have an estimated combined net worth of around £295m ($400m) thanks to their acting income and business investments. However, even their fortunes pale in comparison to the Championship's biggest hitters.
As the North Wales outfit prepares for life in the second tier, WalesOnline looks at how Reynolds and McElhenney's wealth stacks up to that of their rival owners.
QPR are often highlighted at the top 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 tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who alone is said to be worth £13.4bn, according to Forbes.
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Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna will be well-backed next season
(Image: PA )
Not too far behind are American investment fund Gamechanger 20 Ltd, who own newly-relegated Ipswich, with reports valuing the firm at a staggering £10.8bn. Another well-backed side are Leicester, who also recently dropped out of the Premier League, with the Srivaddhanaprabha family worth approximately £2.7bn.
Meanwhile, Bristol City owner Steve Lansdown holds a wealth of £2.3bn, and Stoke City custodian John Coates is said to have £2.2bn. At the bottom end of the table in terms of their net worth are Watford's Gino Pozzo (£93m), Millwall's James Berylson (£110m) and Hull City's Acun Ilicali (£147m).
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The combined net worth of Reynolds and McElhenney would therefore place Wrexham in a lower mid-table position in the Championship. However, they do have an ace up their sleeves in the form of the Allyn family from New York, who came on board as minority owners of the club in October.
Eric Allyn and his daughter Kaleen have helped shore up Wrexham's financial position
(Image: Geraint Lloyd )
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For more than a century, the family were the owners of US medical device manufacturing company Welch Allyn Inc. That was until September 2015 when the firm was sold to Hill-Rom in a deal reported to be worth just under £1.5bn at current rates .
The Allyns have since turned their focus to investing in private and public markets, and Wrexham have received several large cash injections since their arrival. It's hope their involvement will help Reynolds and McElhenney achieve their dream of taking the club into the Premier League.
Deadpool star Reynolds restated that goal in the wake of Wrexham's promotion from League One, which was confirmed after a 3-0 home win over Charlton in April.
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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.
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Posting on social media, the Canadian wrote: "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… and I think Rob jumped in with, 'The Premier League'. People laughed. They had every right to. It seemed insane… But we weren't kidding."
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The co-owners have certainly taken steps to shore up Wrexham's financial position in recent times and prudently took out an insurance policy to cover the cost of promotion bonuses ahead of the 2024/25 season. However, climbing into the Championship will be the biggest challenge they have faced yet during their whirlwind journey.