Just as an example of his business acumen, in 2014 Fox had some test footage commissioned as a proof of concept for the Deadpool character (which ended up becoming the highway scene in the movie).
Deadpool had been something Reynolds was pushing for for years, even agreeing to star as him in the truly shitty Wolverine: Origins. The version of the character in that film was a complete bastardization but Reynolds has effectively said since that he did it to keep his hat in the ring with hopes they would do the right thing in the future.
Now it's not clear whether Fox was going to pass on Deadpool after seeing the test footage but what is clear is that the movie had not been greenlit yet, and that Reynolds was only one of four people who could have possibly leaked the footage online during the last day of San Diego Comic Con. We can't really say for certain who did it, but as the potential star and producer, it's a good bet it was him.
Despite the massive legal risk taken in leaking unpolished studio-owned footage online, the response was almost unanimous acclaim, the film was greenlit, and the franchise has made around $700 million in revenue (outside of merchandise) and should easily cross $1 billion when the 3rd film is released. All with Reynolds as a producer.
He knows what people want and he knows how to make money doing it.
