OnlyFans is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20% to San Francisco-based Architect Capital at a valuation of more than $3 billion, the Financial Times reported on Friday — a deal that would mark the first outside investment in the UK-based content platform since its founder Leonid Radvinsky died of cancer in late March at the age of 43, leaving the fate of one of Britain’s most profitable private companies in the hands of a family trust led by his widow Katie.
An agreement is expected to be struck as early as next month, three people with knowledge of the situation told the FT, though the deal could still face last-minute obstacles. The transaction will leave control of OnlyFans with the Radvinsky family trust rather than transferring it to Architect Capital, which distinguishes this deal from the majority stake sale that had previously been under discussion at a valuation of more than $5 billion. The decision to sell only a small minority without a controlling interest has reduced the implied valuation — from the $5 billion-plus figure being sought for majority control to the current more than $3 billion for the sub-20% stake.
The business behind the deal
OnlyFans is one of the most profitable private technology companies in the world relative to its size and public profile. The platform generated $7.2 billion from users in the last reported year — subscribers paying for access to content from creators as well as tips and payments for special requests. The company paid a record $701 million in dividends last year alone — a figure that reflects both the scale of the business and the concentrated ownership structure through which virtually all of those returns flowed to Radvinsky and his family trust.
The platform is primarily known for adult content and has been a significant employer of income for sex workers and adult content creators who use its subscription model to monetise their content directly with fans rather than through traditional industry intermediaries. OnlyFans has also expanded into non-adult content categories including fitness, music, and cooking, though adult content remains the dominant revenue driver.
Who Leonid Radvinsky was
Radvinsky was a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur who acquired Fenix International — the company that owns and operates OnlyFans — in 2018. Under his ownership, he transformed what was a relatively niche platform into one of Britain’s most successful technology startups and one of the global adult content industry’s defining platforms of the social media era. His death at 43 following a battle with cancer left the platform’s ownership in the family trust that now holds his shares, with Katie Radvinsky leading the sale process since her husband’s illness.
The years of stop-start efforts to bring outside investment into OnlyFans — repeatedly attempted and repeatedly stalled — had been further complicated in recent months by the circumstances of Radvinsky’s illness and death. The Architect Capital stake sale represents the first concrete progress toward outside investment under the family trust’s stewardship.
The Architect Capital deal structure
Architect Capital had entered exclusive negotiations with OnlyFans over buying a majority stake late last year, the Wall Street Journal previously reported — but those talks ultimately produced the sub-20% minority deal now under discussion rather than the majority transaction originally contemplated. Architect has funded the deal with backing from other investors through a special-purpose vehicle — a structure that allows the fund to bring in co-investors for a transaction of this size without committing the full capital from its own fund.
Other suitors had also been pursuing OnlyFans, including Los Angeles-based Forest Road Company with backing from British billionaires David and Simon Reuben. The progression of talks to advanced stage with Architect Capital suggests the other interested parties have either been excluded from the current process or are being held in reserve for the future stake sales that the current deal is designed to facilitate.
One person close to the talks described the pact as providing greater stability for the business, which continues to be hugely profitable — language that frames the Architect Capital investment as a governance and continuity measure following the founder’s death rather than purely a capital raise.
The financial services angle
As part of the deal, OnlyFans is expected to work with Architect Capital to develop new financial services and products for creators — addressing one of the platform’s most persistent operational challenges. Content creators on OnlyFans, particularly those in the adult content category, frequently struggle to access traditional banking facilities as many mainstream financial institutions restrict or refuse services to adult content businesses. Developing creator-focused financial products — payment cards, banking services, income smoothing tools — would meaningfully expand OnlyFans’ value proposition to its creator base and create an additional revenue stream beyond the platform’s existing transaction fee model.
Disclaimer: This article is based on Financial Times reporting citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. No official confirmation has been received from OnlyFans or Architect Capital at the time of writing. Business Upturn is not responsible for any decisions made based on this article.
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