Leonid Radvinsky, the billionaire owner of adult-content platform OnlyFans, has died of cancer at the age of 43, the London-based company confirmed in a statement on Monday.
“We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Leo Radvinsky. Leo passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer,” the company said through an emailed statement. “His family have requested privacy at this difficult time.”
Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American entrepreneur, acquired Fenix International Ltd, the parent company of OnlyFans, in 2018 and served as its director and majority shareholder. After buying a majority stake in the platform, he transformed it into a cultural phenomenon that reshaped the pornography industry by enabling creators to charge users directly for their content.
Born in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, Radvinsky moved to Chicago with his family as a child. He most recently lived in Florida, according to his website.
OnlyFans said Radvinsky, who rarely gave public interviews or statements, had supported several philanthropic projects around the world.
His website notes that he made donations to charities including the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, open-source initiatives and the West Suburban Humane Society.
He remained the owner of Fenix International Ltd, according to the company’s most recent filing in the United Kingdom, as cited by Bloomberg.
OnlyFans, founded in 2016 by British entrepreneur Tim Stokely, saw a surge in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic as lockdowns pushed both creators and consumers online, turning the subscription-based platform into a mainstream source of income and entertainment worldwide.
In January, it was reported by Reuters the company was exploring the sale of a majority stake to investment firm Architect Capital in a deal that could value OnlyFans at about $5.5 billion, including debt.
