There is no way to invest in Onlyfans as you would with Tesla, Microsoft or any other company simply because it is not publicly traded. In other words, you will not find an Onlyfans stock ticker or see the daily price movements on your online broker.
Onlyfans is privately owned by Fenix International Limited, which is not listed on the stock market, so you can’t get indirect exposure to Onlyfans’ equity.
Note: As of November 2023 (over a year now), there were rumours that Onlyfans has held talks with multiple blank check companies (SPACs) about a merger to take Onlyfans public. We will keep you posted!
What is all about Onlyfans?
The platform has seen staggering growth since Beyonce mentioned it in the song “Savage” in April 2020. As of November 2023, the platform has over 180 million registered users and over 1.5 million creators worldwide.
In simple terms, Onlyfans is based on a monthly subscription model where each “fan” has the opportunity to see their preferred content creator, from which Onlyfans takes a 20% cut. Besides, any other income generated by the content creator, such as tips or pay-per-view, is under the 20% fee charged by the company as well. So, it is a pretty stable and straightforward business model.
In the beginning, Onlyfans was created to let celebrities interact with their fans with a more personal touch. Nonetheless, it attracted people related to the adult industry since they realized the opportunity being offered as time went by. As such, Onlyfans became dominated by adult content, and that’s why the online community unofficially recognizes it as a pornography website.
When will be the Onlyfans IPO?
The management team has shown little interest in having Onlyfans as a publicly-traded stock yet, but we can be sure it will get plenty of interest and a high valuation if it does. Rumours are everywhere, which is quite normal due to the company’s success (who doesn’t want to have a piece of it?). Still, you will have to wait for that to happen.
Are there other ways to invest in Onlyfans?
There is no way to work around the fact that Onlyfans is not present in the stock market.
Who are OnlyFans’ Competitors?
Believe it or not, it has no direct competition. You can not associate it directly with porn websites since it does show recorded videos, and, most of the time, there is just one person involved in each live stream, so there is no sex between two or more people.
On the other hand, you cannot classify it as a dating platform since the intention is not to meet people in real life for romantic intercourse or a social media platform since their rules restrict sexual behaviours.
Even Twitch seemed a logical choice since it changed its rules to no longer allow nudity. Many streamers went to… You guessed it: Onlyfans. So you are left with a company focused on a market niche that has never been explored before.
Are there any concerns about Onlyfans?
We are pretty confident there are no concerns about its business model. Firstly, as mentioned before, they have no close competition, and the companies with the cash ready for new investments are not available to create a competitor to Onlyfans. We bet that Facebook, Microsoft, Apple or any other industry titan want nothing to do with being tied to a pornographic site.
Secondly, it has achieved the holy grail of the network effect. The more people, the more interaction you will get. The number of new accounts is growing at an almost untraceable pace. The information is unclear on this front, but as of November 2023, Onlyfans recorded 500,000 new users per day (yeah, you heard that right! Per day!). Given that, it has attracted an average daily of 8,000 new content creators, according to the site’s chief operating officer Thomas Stokely. The growth potential is enormous!
And thirdly, Onlyfans seems to have healthy financials. The information is not clear on this side (disadvantage of being a privately held company). Research made by Axios indicates a projected $1.2 billion profit for the year-end of 2022.
Bottom line: should I wait for the IPO?
By now, it is pretty clear that the company is doing well. You would love to invest in it, but since there is information on when (or if) it will ever go to the stock market, you would be better suited to find something else to invest your money in.
By waiting, you have the risk of leaving money on the table when there are plenty of opportunities in the market right now. We know it is not the same thing. Still, you can easily invest in Match Group (owner of Tinder), Bumble, Facebook or other publicly listed companies you believe has the closest business model through several online brokers.
Franklin is a CFA Level III Candidate with 3 years of experience in Wealth Management as a Fund Research Analyst and the Host of the "Edge Over Hedge" YouTube Channel.
