UK’s OnlyFans tops $3bn valuation amid talks to sell stake to US investor
OnlyFans, the UK adult video platform, is in talks to sell a minority stake to a US investor that will value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).The London-based company is in advanced talks to sell a stake of less than 20% to the San Francisco-based investment firm Architect Capital, according to the Financial Times.Sources familiar with the process confirmed the talks to the Guardian.OnlyFans has decided that offloading a minority stake is the best guarantee of stability for a business dealing with the death of its owner, Leonid Radvinsky.
Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-American billionaire, died of cancer last month at the age of 43.It is understood that OnlyFans is interested in a deal with Architect because the firm has expertise in the financial services sector, reflecting the UK company’s interest in offering banking products to its creators, who have struggled to access such services owing to the nature of their work.OnlyFans is a highly profitable business synonymous with pornography, which is provided by creators who charge subscribers for access to their material.The site has a strict 18+ age limit.According to the latest accounts filed by OnlyFans’ parent business, Felix International, it has 4.
6m accounts registered to creators who split the proceeds from their subscriptions 80:20 with the platform.The site has 377m fan accounts, enabling users to buy videos from, and send messages to, their favourite performers.OnlyFans posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30 November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m – a rise of 4% over the prior year.Payments to creators were $7.
2bn over the same period, an increase of almost 10%,Radvinksy was paid $701m in dividends from OnlyFans in 2024, on top of the more than $1bn in such payments he had already received from the business,In January OnlyFans was reported to have been in talks with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60%, which followed reports the previous year that the company had been in talks about a sale to a consortium led by the Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm,If OnlyFans pushes ahead with a minority sale, it will mean control of the business will be with the family trust that holds Radvinsky’s shares,OnlyFans declined to comment.
Architect Capital has been contacted for comment.The subheading and text of this article were amended on 17 April 2026.An earlier version said Leonid Radvinsky was the founder of OnlyFans; however, he was the owner.
London to host historic first team time trial for Tour de France Femmes in 2027
London will provide the backdrop for a landmark moment in cycling history as it hosts the first team time trial in the women’s Tour de France next year.The best riders in the women’s peloton will race against the clock as teams, on a central London circuit of approximately 18km, pass the Houses of Parliament, London Eye and Tower Bridge, culminating in a finish on the Mall.“The team time trial has always been one of the most exciting and spectacular formats in cycling, and we are very proud that the first one will take place in London,” the race director Marion Rousse said. “It’s a huge moment in the history of the race.”Although the men’s race visited London in 2007 and 2014, 2027 is the inaugural visit of the Tour de France Femmes to the capital, with the team time trial providing a showcase finale to three days of UK-based racing
Floods, baskets and Billie Jean King: how the rough and tumble WBL set the stage for the WNBA
It was the night before the 1980 Women’s Professional Basketball League draft in New York City and the Dallas Diamonds had the No 1 pick. But the team’s top brass was split. Coach Greg Williams wanted to take the 6ft 5in Danish star Inge Nissen, and the team’s GM Nancy Nichols prized Nancy Lieberman, the American point guard people called “Lady Magic”.“We argued for days about Nissen versus Lieberman,” Nichols tells the Guardian.Nichols remembers the hours after dinner that night; everyone had retired to their rooms
Jack Draper faces French Open fitness race as knee injury worries deepen
Jack Draper has been ruled out for at least another month as injuries continue to disrupt his hopes of establishing himself as one of the top players in the world.Draper has withdrawn from the Madrid Open this week and the subsequent Italian Open due to the aggravated knee tendon injury that forced him to retire from his opening match at the Barcelona Open last week. Although he will miss most of the clay-court season, Draper is still aiming to compete at Roland Garros, which begins in five weeks on 24 May. He is considering entering one of the tournaments scheduled a week before the French Open.“An aggravated tendon in my knee means I am not able to play in Madrid and Rome,” Draper said in a statement
LeBron James is 41. And he’s somehow still carrying his team in the playoffs
The Lakers star would have been expecting to play a supporting role as he burrows into his 40s. But injuries means he has assumed a familiar roleLeBron James must be so sick of this. If he wanted to experience being the best player on an otherwise thin team, he could simply remember the Cleveland Cavaliers’ run to the NBA finals in 2007. Or the 2015 NBA finals when his best teammates, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, suffered injuries. Or the 2018 season, which convinced SNL to make a spoof of James’ support staff
State of Origin coaches back Australian NRL takeover of England’s Super League
State of Origin coaches Billy Slater and Laurie Daley have backed the NRL’s pursuit of a stake in the Super League, arguing a strong northern hemisphere game is key to the future of rugby league.The NRL’s chief executive, Andrew Abdo, was in England last week exploring the investment opportunity that would involve governance reform in the UK and a potential shift back to a winter season to allow broadcasters to screen elite rugby league year-round.Slater, who coached the Maroons to an Origin series win in 2025, said the sport needed to improve its pathways across the globe to ensure standards remain high.“There’s definitely something over there in the English Super League, and I think [the NRL] can make that work,” he said.While Abdo has said opportunities with the Super League could help grow the value of the NRL’s next broadcast deal, Slater believed the main benefit was to help improve playing standards in Europe and in the NRL, which is expected to grow to 20 teams in coming years
Castleford’s shock win over Wigan shows NRL that Super League still has a lot to offer
The talks have started and the jockeying for position in the boardrooms has begun. In the coming weeks, we will find just how strong an offer Australia’s National Rugby League is prepared to make to invest in Super League and potentially transform the fortunes of the competition.There is a school of thought, perhaps perpetuated more by those in Australia than in Europe, that Super League is flailing and in desperate need of help. In terms of the financials there may be some merit in that, with wealthy club owners losing tens of millions between them each year. As business models go, it is hardly sustainable
‘Women want to experience pleasure’: how the female gaze caught the attention of film, TV and fiction
Yann Martel: ‘I hate the rich people of this world – of which I’m one, because of Life of Pi’
Kae Tempest on creativity and his gender transition: ‘I’m just glad to be alive’
Winners and judges out of pocket as £20,000 writing awards appear to have closed
Zelda taught me the importance of play – and has helped me deal with work, parenting and grief
From Lee Cronin’s The Mummy to Zayn: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead