Leonid Radvinsky, the owner of OnlyFans, dies at the age of 43

Radvinsk “passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer”, the company underlined when announcing the entrepreneur’s passing. “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Leo Radvinsky,” they said, adding that “his family has asked for respect for their privacy at this difficult time.”

“He remained a board member and majority shareholder of the company, whose strong results were driven by demand for adult content, making it one of the UK’s biggest, but most controversial, tech successes,” explains the Financial Times. “OnlyFans – explains the British newspaper – has transformed the porn industry by offering content creators a platform to directly reach their audience and keeping 20% ​​of the revenues. The content creators, mostly artists from the adult sector, keep the remaining 80%”.

Chi era Leonid Radvinsky

Florida-based Leo Radvinsky “regularly received one of the highest dividends among private companies in the UK, where OnlyFans was still based despite the majority of its profits coming from the US.” Radvinsky had acquired the company from the British father and son Guy and Tim Stokely, founders of the platform in 2016.

“Last year alone OnlyFans paid a record $701 million in dividends to the Ukrainian-born billionaire. The company also pays corporate tax in the UK,” he points out. “Radvinsky – adds the Financial Times – was in negotiations for a potential multibillion-dollar sale of a majority stake in the streaming platform. In 2022, he had evaluated the possibility of listing OnlyFans on the stock exchange via a special purpose vehicle (SPAC), although the deal was never finalized.”

Since its founding in 2016, OnlyFans has paid out more than $25 billion to content creators. Last year, it generated $7.2 billion from ‘fans’ using the platform, who pay subscriptions to content creators, offer tips and pay for special requests, the Financial Times explains.

“Celebrities – adds the newspaper – also use the platform to earn from their fans, including tennis player Nick Kyrgios and singer Kate Nash. In 2022, OnlyFans abandoned plans to ban pornographic content on its platform to focus on ‘one size fits all’ content from sports stars and celebrities, as many workers in the adult industry rely heavily on it for their livelihoods,” concludes the Financial Times.