Leo Radvinsky, the founder of OnlyFans who supported several global philanthropic projects, has died after a long battle with cancer, the company announced. Radvinsky donated to charities such as the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, open-source initiatives, and the West Suburban Humane Society, according to his website. Leo Radvinsky was born in Ukraine and raised in Chicago. He earned a degree in Economics from Northwestern University in the state of Illinois. In 2018, he acquired Fenix International, the parent company of OnlyFans, from the British founders Guy and Tim Stokely, and has since remained its director and majority shareholder. In addition to his business activities, he was an investor in various companies and supported philanthropic projects globally, OnlyFans noted in its statement. The company, based in the UK though most of its profits are generated in the US, has become one of the country's largest and most controversial tech successes, fueled by demand for pornography. Its model allows creators to offer content directly to users, with the platform taking a 20% cut, and while it is particularly popular for porn, it also has artists or musicians. OnlyFans paid out a record $701 million (around 600 million euros) in dividends to Radvinsky last year, one of the largest such payments among private companies in the UK, according to the Financial Times. According to the newspaper, over the last decade the platform has distributed more than $25 billion (about 21.5 billion euros) to content creators. Since 2024, Radvinsky's stakes in Fenix International, the owner and operator of OnlyFans, were held through the LR Fenix Trust, while, according to the FT, the entrepreneur was in talks to sell a majority stake. In 2022, he also explored an unsuccessful stock market listing via a special acquisition company (SPAC), the publication says. In its last fiscal year, the platform recorded revenues of $7.2 billion (nearly 6.2 billion euros), coming from user payments to creators. "Leo passed away peacefully following a long battle with cancer," a statement sent to EFE by the company said, adding that the family has requested privacy. The billionaire Leonid Radvinsky died of cancer, according to what the company reported this Monday. Radvinsky resided recently in Florida, according to his website. Leonid Radvinsky, the reclusive billionaire owner of the adult content platform OnlyFans, died of cancer at the age of 43, the London-based company reported. "We are deeply saddened to have to announce the death of Leo Radvinsky. His family has requested privacy at this difficult time," the company OnlyFans said in an email statement. Radvinsky bought a majority stake in the platform in 2018 and turned it into a cultural phenomenon that transformed the porn industry by allowing creators to charge directly for their content. He was the owner of OnlyFans' parent company, Fenix International, according to the company's latest filing in the UK. Why was Leonid Radvinsky looking to sell 60% of OnlyFans shares? Before his death, Radvinsky was in talks to sell a majority stake in OnlyFans, a controversial user-generated content platform that gained notoriety during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Founded in 2016 by British father-and-son Guy and Tim Stokely, OnlyFans hosted pornographic material banned on most social media networks. The owner of OnlyFans, entrepreneur Leonid Radvinsky, died at the age of 43, according to a statement from the adult content company. "We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Leo Radvinsky." This was before OnlyFans revealed a $700 million dividend payment to Radvinsky in August. While the company has tried to attract more mainstream creators, such as famous chefs and athletes, it remains known for its adult content. OnlyFans takes a 20% commission on most subscriptions and content sold on the platform. OnlyFans indicated that Radvinsky transferred his ownership to a trust in 2024. Until February, talks remained in an early stage, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Radvinsky paid himself around $1.8 billion in dividends from the platform since 2021. OnlyFans noted that Radvinsky, who gave few interviews and public statements, supported "several global philanthropic projects." He donated to charities such as the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, open-source initiatives, and the West Suburban Humane Society, according to his website. During the pandemic, many adult film actors and sex workers turned to the platform as an alternative source of income. Radvinsky was seeking to sell a 60% stake that would have valued the company at around $5.5 billion. Architect Capital, a little-known investment firm based in San Francisco, held talks to lead an offer with capital and around $2 billion in debt, according to a person familiar with the matter. In 2024, the company reported more than 4.6 million creator accounts and around 377 million users, with revenues of $1.4 billion. Born in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, Radvinsky's family moved to Chicago when he was a child. One of his websites, called MyFreeCams, was a pioneer in allowing people to pay for explicit content online. Radvinsky resided recently in Florida, according to his website. Leo passed away peacefully following a long battle with cancer. He studied economics at Northwestern University. He began managing adult websites as a teenager, according to the Wall Street Journal. His net worth was valued at $3.8 billion as of last May, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
