The British adult subscription website OnlyFans has paid out dividends of more than half a billion dollars to its secretive owner in just 18 months.
Leonid Radvinsky, a 40-year-old Ukrainian American who lives in Florida, has received $517m from the London-based venture, which he acquired in 2018.
OnlyFans, which is used by 2.2 million video performers and is best known for its pornographic content, reported pre-tax profits of $433m in the year ending in November, accounts filed at Companies House revealed.
Mr Radvinsky, has been described as an adult industry veteran and has run pornography websites since the 1990s through his company Cybertania.
OnlyFans paid $284m in dividends to Mr Radvinsky in 2021, up from $26m the year before. Since November, its accounts say it has returned a further $233m to its owner, according to the accounts.
The Essex entrepreneur Tim Stokely launched OnlyFans in 2016, allowing adult performers to charge fans monthly subscriptions and taking a 20pc commission. Mr Stokely stood down as chief executive in December.
The business has proved hugely lucrative. Profits increased sevenfold from $61m in 2020. OnlyFans paid $108m in taxes, including $88m in UK corporation tax and $1.6m in digital services tax.
User numbers have spiked since the pandemic, increasing to 187 million “fans” last year from 82 million the year before, according to its accounts. Its 2.2 million creators received a total of $3.9bn last year.
Lee Taylor, OnlyFans chief financial officer, said: “OnlyFans improved its business processes and gained market share, as reflected by our pivotal and record-setting results across our business.”
Last year, OnlyFans briefly said it would ban “sexually explicit” content, only to swiftly reverse the decision. It blamed the initial move on payment providers blocking transactions on the site and shutting down the accounts of sex workers.
While best known for its adult content, OnlyFans has made efforts to clean up its image. Its site also features celebrities such as DJ Khalid and Cardi B, who share posts for paying fans, while influencers such as chefs, fitness coaches, musicians, and models also provide paying users with exclusive posts.
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