Sources: OnlyFans has held conversations with multiple SPACs about going public, after failing to raise funds last year due to its adult content
OnlyFans has held talks with multiple blank check companies, or SPACs, about a merger to take it public, sources tell Axios. Tweets: @alplicable , @alex , @sarafischer , @jamestitcomb , @sarafischer , and @saraashleyo Tweets: @alplicable : I don't understand why they keep pushing this! Just be the porn app!! https://twitter.com/... @alex : pls lord let this happen https://t.co/OMtOxOfQub Sara Fischer / @sarafischer : Also ... OnlyFans has employees based in Ukraine — Its majority owner is Leo Radvinsky, a first-generation immigrant from Ukraine https://twitter.com/... James Titcomb / @jamestitcomb : https://www.axios.com/... https://twitter.com/... Sara Fischer / @sarafischer : Scoop: OnlyFans wants to go public — Has had talks with Forest Road Acquisition Corp. II, co-led by former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, but the two sides are no longer in talks — Looking to do a rebrand to position itself as less porn-focused https://www.axios.com/... @saraashleyo : “the company may also face labor issues, as many of its employees are based in Ukraine” https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
OnlyFans enters these SPAC talks from a position of unusual scale but closed doors elsewhere: after reporting $2B+ in 2020 sales and 85M users, it failed to raise outside funding last year, with sources attributing the cold shoulder to its adult content. A merger with a blank-check company is the workaround — public-market capital without the venture syndicate that wouldn't touch it.
The SPAC route also carries baggage: OnlyFans previously held merger discussions with Forest Road Acquisition Corp. II that ended without a deal, and sources say it has been looking to rebrand as less porn-focused — evidence that the listing strategy and the legitimacy strategy are the same project.
First-order effects
- Majority owner Leo Radvinsky gets a credible liquidity path that private fundraising never offered, while any SPAC sponsor that signs on takes on the underwriting risk of an adult-content platform entering public markets.
- OnlyFans' Ukraine-based workforce becomes an immediate diligence issue for counterparties, adding operational uncertainty on top of the content-stigma problem.
Second-order effects
- A listed OnlyFans would face disclosure and shareholder scrutiny of creator payouts and moderation practices that private ownership never forced, pressuring the platform's push to reposition beyond adult content.
- Rival creator platforms gain a benchmark: if a SPAC prices OnlyFans' revenue despite the stigma, competitors' own fundraising conversations get repriced against it.
Third-order effects
- If the merger lands, adult-content platforms would have effectively routed around traditional VC gatekeeping via SPACs — a template other stigmatized-but-profitable businesses could follow.
- Public listing would also invite lawmakers and payment-processor scrutiny of the sector, accelerating exactly the mainstreaming-and-compliance posture the company says it wants.
The trend: Profitable adult-content platforms shut out of conventional venture capital are turning to SPACs and other alternative routes to reach public markets.