OnlyFans created a source of income for a majority of women by offering photos, videos or 'online dating' content for a certain fee, while making its founder a 'porn emperor'.
OnlyFans is taking firm steps towards generating $1 billion in revenue this year, with expenditures increasing by 400 percent with the effect of the epidemic. The founder of this new generation income model, Tim Stokely, is an entrepreneur with a training in real estate at Anglia Ruskin University in Britain.
He had five other business ventures before he laid the foundation for his porn empire in 2016. Stokley, who made his first entrepreneurial attempt while still a student, stepped into the business world by delivering an English classic, fish and chips.
After graduating, he started a business close to today's business model: online fetish services that provide customers with videos and photos by amateur models.
In 2018, the fate of both OnlyFans and Stokely changed with an e-mail from Leo Radvinsky, the founder of MyFreeCams, one of the biggest chat sites in the porn industry.
In exchange for 75 percent of the company, Radvinsky put on the table the capital and experience that will transform OnlyFans into a global brand.
Although it may seem like these two men who created OnlyFans, the main job is content creator women. In other words, customers and admired women who, as the name suggests, are willing to pay for content.
Content creators say they love OnlyFans for providing their fair share. Actress Bella Thorne, famous as a Disney star, broke a record when she entered OnlyFans last year by sending nude photos to her 'fans' for $200. Thorne earned $1 million in one day.
OnlyFans is not just a platform where celebrities make money. 'Ordinary' people also make good money. For example, 23-year-old Jasmine Rice started earning $35,000 a month after joining the platform in March 2020. 32-year-old Gracey Kay doubled her annual 18K set as a hairdresser at OnlyFans.
This affiliation with the adult entertainment industry has led to Stokely being referred to as the 'digital pimp'. Photos of women with hourglass bodies in their 20s in Ibiza clubs also supported this image.
However, this nickname is not correct. Against the entire adult service industry being viewed as exploitative as it used to be: “More than 300 content creators have made over $1 million. This is a success story. We've gone beyond the adult entertainment industry, and we're on our way to becoming a creative economy.”
Struggling to create diversity with musicians and athletes participating on the platform while dealing with tax audit issues related to his company, Stokely is now the head of an empire of 400 employees.
His plan for the near future is to have a beer outdoors with his friends: “I'm looking forward to the mix of alcohol and vitamin D.”