March 23 (Reuters) – Leonid Radvinsky, the secretive billionaire proprietor of OnlyFans who reshaped the porn business with a subscription mannequin, has died at 43 from most cancers, the corporate mentioned on Monday.
The Ukrainian-American entrepreneur purchased Fenix Worldwide, the father or mother firm of OnlyFans, from the platform’s British founder Tim Stokely in 2018. He served as a director on Fenix’s board and was its majority shareholder.
Underneath his possession, OnlyFans turned from a platform that when prevented express content material into an adults-only phenomenon with greater than 300 million customers and over $1 billion in annual income, powered by erotic performers and celeb influencers.
“We’re deeply saddened to announce the loss of life of Leo Radvinsky. Leo handed away peacefully after an extended battle with most cancers,” an OnlyFans spokesperson mentioned on Monday.
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Radvinsky’s loss of life leaves questions on who will personal the platform. His Fenix shares have been held within the LR Fenix Belief since 2024 and he had a web price of about $4.7 billion, in keeping with the Forbes real-time billionaires listing.
Reuters reported in January OnlyFans was exploring the sale of a majority stake to funding agency Architect Capital in a deal valuing the corporate at about $5.5 billion, together with debt.
The platform exploded in reputation throughout the pandemic as hundreds of thousands of individuals caught at residence globally turned to the net, fuelling a surge in content material and customers. OnlyFans takes a 20% charge on most subscriptions and content material offered on the platform.
Moreover Fenix, Radvinsky additionally ran Leo, a enterprise capital fund he based in 2009 that focuses totally on investments in expertise corporations.
He was born in Ukraine and grew up in Chicago.
(Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Devika Syamnath)