OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky dies at 43
Olivia Solon And Benoit Berthelot
Leonid Radvinsky, the reclusive billionaire owner of adult content platform OnlyFans, has died of cancer, the London-based company said on Monday (UK time). He was 43 years old.
“We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Leo Radvinsky. Leo passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer,” the company said in an emailed statement. “His family has requested privacy at this difficult time.”
Radvinsky acquired a majority stake in the platform in 2018 and turned it into a cultural phenomenon that reshaped the pornography industry by allowing creators to charge directly for their content. OnlyFans’ parent company was owned by Fenix International, according to the company’s latest UK filing.
His death comes at a time when Radvinsky was in talks to sell a majority stake in OnlyFans, a controversial user-generated platform that rose to prominence during COVID-era lockdowns. Founded in 2016 by British father and son Guy and Tim Stokely, OnlyFans hosted pornographic material banned on most social networks. During the pandemic, many adult film actors and sex workers turned to the platform for alternative sources of income.
Radvinsky was considering selling a 60 percent stake that would give him an enterprise value of approximately $5.5 billion. Architect Capital, a little-known San Francisco-based investment firm, is in talks to lead an offering that includes equity and about $2 billion in debt, according to a source familiar with the matter. The person, who requested anonymity because the negotiations were private, said that as of February, the talks were still in their early stages.
Since 2021, Radvinsky has paid himself approximately $1.8 billion in dividends from the platform. As of last May, his net worth was worth US$3.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This was before OnlyFans announced a $700 million dividend payment to Radvinsky in August.
Although the company has tried to recruit more mainstream posters such as celebrity chefs and athletes, it remains known for its adult content.
OnlyFans charges a 20 percent fee for most subscriptions and content sold on the platform. In 2024, the company reported that more than 4.6 million creator accounts and approximately 377 million fans generated $1.4 billion in revenue.
Born in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, Radvinsky’s family moved to Chicago when he was a child. He studied economics at Northwestern University.
According to the report, he started running porn sites when he was a teenager. Wall Street Magazine. One of the websites, MyFreeCams, was a pioneer in allowing people to pay for explicit content online.
Radvinsky was most recently living in Florida, according to his website. Radvinsky, who has given few public interviews and statements, supports “many philanthropic projects globally,” OnlyFans said.
According to its website, it has donated to charities such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, open source initiatives and the West Suburban Humane Society.
OnlyFans said it transferred ownership of Radvinsky to a foundation in 2024.
Bloomberg
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers big stories, exclusive news and expert insights. Sign up to receive it every weekday morning.
