Kit Roberts
It seems that of all the traffic on the internet, one area in particular remains as lucrative as ever.
This is, of course, adult entertainment, and specifically the platform OnlyFans, which has exploded in popularity online since its foundation by the Stokely family from Essex in 2016.
While not solely geared towards adult content, this type of content has become overwhelmingly what the platform is known for. People can post their rude pictures and videos on the site, which users then pay a subscription to access. There are also options to purchase extra content and to 'tip' creators.
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While not solely geared towards adult content, this type of content has become overwhelmingly what the platform is known for. People can post their rude pictures and videos on the site, which users then pay a subscription to access. There are also options to purchase extra content and to 'tip' creators.
Of the proceeds, 80% go to the person running the page, and OnlyFans keeps 20%. It might not sound like much, but it was enough for the site's Ukrainian-American owner and sole shareholder, Leonid Radvinsky, 41, to rake in $338 million in dividends last year.
That's about $1.3m per working day, or $926,000 per day if you account for weekends.
The website has become hugely popular for people who post their own content, and was initially praised by sex workers who felt that it offered a greater degree of control and autonomy over their work. But concerns have since been raised that the platform is prioritising celebrity accounts at the expense of smaller ones.
One sex worker, Abby, who used the platform for two years, told the New Statesman: “Celebrities already have such a big platform outside of OnlyFans, so when they do come to OnlyFans, they move to the top.
"They take those spots away from hard-working sex workers who earned that spot and probably worked up from nothing.”
Kelly Blair, the company's CEO, told UNILAD: “Building on our strong performance in 2021, OnlyFans continues to grow our Creator and Fan communities and increase our global revenue.
“These results reinforce OnlyFans’ position as the market leading creator monetisation platform and reflect the impact OnlyFans continues to have on the Creator Economy. This was achieved by investing in developing new platform tools for our Creators, enhancing our trust and safety measures, broadening our global creator base, and implementing innovative ways to enable creators to monetize their content in addition to our traditional subscription model.
“OnlyFans’ success is inextricably linked to the opportunities creators have to monetise their content and connect with their fans on our platform. We remain committed to providing an effective and safe environment for creators over the age of 18 across all genres to monetize their content, own their own copyright and share their creativity with their fans.”
In total, OnlyFans reported profits of $525m last year, with Radvinsky being the sole shareholder in the company since purchasing it from the Stokely family in 2018.
The number of users subscribing to the platform hit 239 million, an increase from the 188 million users in 2021.