His name, Leonid Radvinsky, is probably not familiar to many. But if you add that he is the founder of OnlyFansthen it is very likely that the reference to the controversial platform of explicit content on the Internet paints a much clearer picture.
Radvinsky, a 41-year-old Ukrainian-American businessman, He has been in the news these days after the financial report of his company where he says that he received 338 million dollars in dividends in 2022 from the income of the successful websitewhich publishes content produced by celebrities, musicians, sex workers and others.
1 million dollars a day?
That amount is equivalent to saying that, in 2022, he earned more than 1 million dollars a day, considering the 260 working days he had in the year.
His annual salary has not been disclosed, but his fortune is estimated at more than 2,000 million dollars, according to Forbes magazine, a figure that does not place him among the richest people in the world, but rather in a very select group.
However, Radvinsky, who supposedly lives in Florida, United States, and is said to be married –both assertions do not seem to have been verified by anyone– seems to avoid the limelight and has barely offered interviews since he rose to “fame” after the meteoric rise of the paid platform, which he partly acquired in 2018 (it had been created under another name in 2016).
The beginnings of the entrepreneur
Radvinsky was born in the port city of Odessa, in Ukraine, in 1985. According to the little information that exists on the internet about him, his family immigrated to Chicago when he was 6 years old and in 2002 He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University, in Evanston, north of Chicago.
Just when he was studying at that house of higher studies, Radvinsky created a porn portal recommendation site called Cybertania. It is also known that in 2009 he founded a venture capital fund called Leo, which has invested mainly in technology companies.
It has also been leaked that this successful capitalist, who avoids contact with the media, has donated millions of dollars in aid to his native Ukraine and various charities. According to various media reports, users invested a staggering $4.8 billion in the platform.
According to a personal description on his LinkedIn profile, Radvinsky He considers himself a venture capital investor, philanthropist, and tech entrepreneur with a “special interest in new social media platforms.”
His website describes him as an avid reader “always up for a game of chess and a “wannabe helicopter pilot”.
The OnlyFans phenomenon and criticism
The well-known internet platform is owned by Fenix, a UK registered entity. The portal, which is now wholly owned by Radvinsky, is not only associated with pornography and creators of the most diverse branches publish content on it.
In August 2023, OnlyFans revealed that it had grossed $525 million up to that point in the year.a notable increase compared to 432 million dollars in 2022.
Last year, the number of creators on the platform increased 47% (to almost 3.2 million). and the number of users grew 27% (close to 239 million). The subscription service has not been without criticism from governments and state regulators.
According to a BBC News report, the platform had failed to prevent underage users from selling content and appearing in explicit videos. OnlyFans has defended itself by saying that the company does everything possible to avoid any infringement.