British adult subscription platform OnlyFans took a huge leap in revenue this year, raking in more than £805 million as users flocked to the site for its amateur pornography.
Recording a pre-tax profit of £374 million, OnlyFans posted its most significant year-over-year growth to date in 2021.
The company’s revenue jumped 160% from £309m to £805m for the year, as the site’s popularity skyrocketed during the pandemic.
Sex workers can post images and videos to the platform, and users pay a subscription fee directly to the creator, of which OnlyFans collects a 20% commission.
Performers on the site have earned more than £6.92 billion since 2016, according to the company.
Amrapali Gan, its chief executive officer, said: “Our creator-first approach to building the world’s most secure social media platform has driven OnlyFans through the 2021 century. green”.
“We will continue to invest in the creator economy by strengthening safety, growing original OFTV content, and continuing to grow our community of creators and fans.”
In its financial records, the company prides itself on how much tax it has paid: as of last month, HM Revenue & Customs had received more than £147 million from OnlyFans.
The company has paid £76m in UK corporation tax on global revenue in the past year alone.
OnlyFans was founded by British entrepreneur Tim Stokely in Essex in 2016. Subscribers have skyrocketed in recent years, growing from 82 million in 2020 to 187 million last year.
“OnlyFans has improved our business processes and gained market share, reflected in our record-setting and business-critical results,” said Lee Taylor, the company’s chief financial officer. know.
“This business growth allows us to continue to invest in the platform and work to ensure we provide our community with the most secure social media site.”
A year ago, the company shocked the market when it announced it would ban all adult pornography.
The change was in response to pressure from payment providers, who threatened to cut the company off for potentially illegal content on the site.
But a week later, the company announced that it had reversed its decision.
OnlyFans says it has “the necessary guarantees to support our diverse community of creators and [had] suspend the planned October 1 policy change.”
In recent years, the company has tried to present itself as more mainstream, featuring musicians and comedians, who also use the platform to get paid and interact directly with people. fan.
The company has yet to release any figures regarding this side of its business.
