The U.S. Department of Justice is taking a deeper dive into T-Mobile’s acquisition of Ryan Reynolds-owned Mint Mobile.
Reynolds is more than an interested observer, given his payout in the deal is nearly $300 million.
Don't Miss: Ryan Reynolds Tells Jim Cramer His Investment Success
According to the New York Post, the DOJ’s antitrust division is “weighing a possible lawsuit to block T-Mobile’s $1.35 billion acquisition, worried that it’s part of a consolidation trend that will push prices higher for wireless customers.”
Sources told The Post that the DOJ is looking to make examples of A-List celebrities who profit from business deals that go on to negatively impact the public. The agency has targeted Kim Kardashian, Larry David, and Tom Brady for cryptocurrency company endorsement ties in recent months.
Under the Biden administration, federal regulators have deployed a “strategy of going after public figures,” Columbia law professor and securities expert John Coffee told The Post. “Now, everyone in Hollywood will notice.”
Mint Mobile is a so-called mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which doesn't own its own network but instead buys up capacity at wholesale prices from major carriers and sells it at retail prices that are generally lower than the big players.
'The MNVOs were driving prices down because they could drive mean and lean,” Peter Adderton, CEO of Mobile X Global, a MVNO operator The Posts On the Money. "Now, big carriers are just buying them up and raising prices instead of trying to compete.”
Reynolds hasn’t commented on any potential DOJ legal activity but he did have a word to say about the American Dream and his experience after the T-Mobile-Mint deal closed.
'I never dreamt I'd own a wireless company and I certainly never dreamt I'd sell it to T-Mobile,' Reynolds said in a March 15 tweet. 'Life is strange and I'm incredibly proud and grateful.'
