As a lifelong fan of the entertainment industry, I've always admired great entertainers.
But entertainers who leverage their success in show business to build themselves business empires deserve a special level of recognition. Especially when they can do that while remaining, by all accounts, a genuinely kind and generous person.
Ryan Reynolds is one of my very favourite examples.
While continuing to produce wildly entertaining films, Reynolds is involved with a gin company, a phone company, a football club, and an advertising agency.
But he's not just a paid spokesperson for these vastly different businesses: he holds at least partial ownership in all of them... and they're all doing really, really well.
The Wall Street Journal recently did a cover story on Ryan Reynolds titled, "How Ryan Reynolds Built a Business Empire". It's an insightful piece that discusses some of the mentality that has enabled Reynolds' tremendous success, and it's worth a read.
(I'm a WSJ subscriber, and subscribers are given the ability to share "gift links" to articles with their friends and family as a benefit of their subscription. So if you'd like to read the article for yourself, friend, just click the link above and enjoy.)