Leonid Radvinsky, the secretive billionaire owner of OnlyFans who transformed the platform into a global adult-content powerhouse, has died at the age of 43 following a prolonged battle with cancer, the company confirmed on Monday.
"We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Leo Radvinsky. Leo passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer," an OnlyFans spokesperson said on Monday. The company also said he "passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer," and asked for privacy for his family.
The Ukrainian-American entrepreneur, born in Ukraine and raised in Chicago, acquired Fenix International — the parent company of OnlyFans — from British founder Tim Stokely in 2018. He went on to serve as a director and majority shareholder, overseeing a dramatic transformation of the platform.
Founded in 2016, OnlyFans is a social media platform where creators can post videos and photos and charge subscribers through tips or monthly fees. While it hosts a wide range of content from cooking to fitness, it became best known for adult material and direct creator-fan interactions, including livestreams and personalised content.
Under Radvinsky’s ownership, the platform evolved into an adults-only phenomenon, amassing hundreds of millions of users globally. The site surged in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, as lockdowns drove creators and consumers online. OnlyFans takes a 20 per cent cut on most transactions.
According to its latest filings, the company reported $1.4 billion in revenue from transactions exceeding £7 billion and had more than 377 million users in 2024, with around 4.6 million creators on the platform.
The rapid growth also brought scrutiny. British regulators launched an investigation in 2024 into whether minors were accessing explicit content, which the company attributed to a technical issue. Although Ofcom later dropped the probe, it fined the firm about £1 million for failing to provide accurate information on its age-verification systems.
OnlyFans had also faced earlier allegations of failing to adequately police illegal content, including child sexual abuse material. In August 2021, amid mounting pressure, the company announced plans to ban sexually explicit content, but quickly reversed the decision following backlash from users and creators.
Radvinsky’s death raises questions over the platform’s future ownership. His shares in Fenix have been held in the LR Fenix Trust since 2024. Forbes estimated his net worth at around $4.7 billion.
Reuters had reported in January that OnlyFans was exploring the sale of a majority stake to investment firm Architect Capital in a deal valuing the company at approximately $5.5 billion, including debt.
Beyond OnlyFans, Radvinsky founded a venture capital firm in 2009 focused on technology investments and was also known for philanthropic contributions, including donations to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
With inputs from Reuters