On March 20, 2026, Leonid Radvinsky — an Odesa native, owner of OnlyFans and the man who transformed the platform into a money-generating machine — died of cancer at age 43. He kept his illness secret. A week after his death, the company announced: negotiations about selling a stake are ongoing.

What is being sold and to whom

According to Wall Street Journal and Axios, OnlyFans is in exclusive negotiations with Architect Capital to sell 60% of the company — not a minority stake, as previously reported. The deal is structured as $3.5 billion in equity capital plus $2 billion in debt, giving a total valuation of $5.5 billion.

Architect Capital is a credit fund founded in 2021 that specializes in asset-backed loans for early-stage startups. It has not previously provided financial services to content creators. This is precisely the stated goal of the partnership: developing new financial products for content authors.

Why $5.5 billion is a defeat for negotiators

As recently as early 2025, Radvinsky was seeking buyers at a valuation of $8 billion. At that time, negotiations with investor group Forest Road Company hit a dead end. The current offer is a third less than the original ambitions.

"The valuation reflects investor caution toward platforms closely associated with adult content, despite strong financial performance."

mlq.ai, citing sources familiar with negotiations

OnlyFans' financial performance is indeed strong: $7.22 billion in gross revenue in the 2024 financial year and $684 million in pre-tax profit — more than Reddit for the same year. Radvinsky managed to pay himself $1.8 billion in dividends in early 2025.

The main problem that money hasn't solved

OnlyFans has suffered for years from payment systems: Visa, Mastercard and banks are reluctant to work with platforms dominated by adult content. This is precisely why a credit fund appeared in the deal structure — Architect Capital positions itself as a solution to this problem through its own financial instruments.

• In 2021, Visa and Mastercard suspended OnlyFans payments following journalistic investigations into illegal content
• The platform then announced a ban on explicit content — and reversed the decision within 5 days under pressure from creators
• The payment processor problem has never been systematically resolved

Who now controls the company

Radvinsky acquired 75% of Fenix International Ltd. in 2018 from British founders — Tim Stokely and his father. Following his death, the succession structure is not being disclosed. Negotiations with Architect Capital are being conducted in exclusive mode — meaning the company is not currently speaking with other buyers, but the deal has not yet been signed.

If Architect Capital obtains 60% of a platform with $7+ billion in annual revenue but cannot solve the payment systems problem — what exactly are these "new financial products for creators" they plan to build, and on what infrastructure?