Reclusive OnlyFans Owner Dies of Cancer at 43

The man who turned OnlyFans into a billion-dollar juggernaut has died at 43. Leonid "Leo" Radvinsky, the low-profile owner of the London-based platform, died of cancer after a prolonged illness, the company said Monday, adding that his family is seeking privacy. Radvinsky acquired control of OnlyFans' parent, Fenix International, in 2018 and helped transform the site into a major player in online adult content by allowing creators to charge subscribers directly, reports Bloomberg. OnlyFans has paid out some $25 billion to content creators since its 2016 inception, notes the Financial Times.

The platform surged during the pandemic and now reports more than 4.6 million creators, 377 million users, and $1.4 billion in annual revenue, taking a 20% cut of sales. Radvinsky, born in Ukraine and raised in Chicago, had paid himself about $1.8 billion in dividends since 2021 and recently shifted ownership into a trust. He had also been exploring a partial sale that could have valued OnlyFans at roughly $5.5 billion, according to Bloomberg. The company says Radvinsky backed "several philanthropic projects globally," including cancer research and open-source projects.