OnlyFans’ Ukrainian-born owner banks £1bn from adult website

OnlyFans, the subscription website that allows adult performers to sell explicit photos and videos, has paid out £1bn to its Ukrainian-born owner since he bought the company six years ago.

The British website’s parent company, Fenix International, paid a record $472m (£358m) dividend last year, according to accounts published on Friday.

Companies House records list Leonid Radvinsky, a 42-year-old Ukrainian-American entrepreneur, as Fenix’s sole shareholder, although the company describes him as its “majority” owner.

The payout, combined with prior years’ dividend and $159m paid in the first four months of this year, means that OnlyFans has now disclosed $1.3bn in dividends since 2020.

Mr Radvinsky bought the company in 2018 from Guy and Tim Stokely, a father and son team who founded the company two years earlier, for an undisclosed sum.

The latest dividend came after OnlyFans’ more than 300m users spent a record $6.6bn on paid-for material on the platform.

OnlyFans positions itself as a broad church of online influencers selling fitness, cooking and lifestyle videos, but is best known for a porn empire of millions of self-employed adult stars.

It takes 20pc of the subscription and purchase fees paid by users, with creators receiving the rest.

OnlyFans’ own revenue rose by 20pc in the year to Nov 30 to $1.3bn, while its profits increased by 25pc to $658m.

It said the number of creator accounts had climbed by 29pc to 4.1m.

Mr Radvinsky was born in Odesa but moved to the US as a child and is believed to still reside there, although he has a minimal public presence. 

His personal website describes him as an “accomplished company architect, angel investor, philanthropist, and open source software supporter”. He had previously founded the adult website MyFreeCams.

Keily Blair, the OnlyFans chief executive, said: “OnlyFans had a strong year in 2023. We have cemented our place as a leading digital entertainment company and a UK tech success story. 

“We have done this by continuing to provide opportunities for our diverse creator community to monetise their content and grow their global fan base. This is evidenced by the increase in creator numbers, fan numbers and revenue.

“As we look to the future we will continue to invest in the creator economy and provide a safe and innovative digital media platform for our creator and fan community.”