The business behind OnlyFans, with CEO Keily Blair

Summary of The business behind OnlyFans, with CEO Keily Blair

by WaitWhat

29m•December 4, 2025
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Overview of The business behind OnlyFans, with CEO Keely Blair

This episode is a live Masters of Scale conversation (Web Summit, Lisbon) between host Jeff Berman and OnlyFans CEO Keely Blair. They cover OnlyFans’ rapid scale and business model, its social role and safety measures for creators (especially adult creators), hiring and org design that supports high revenue with a tiny full-time headcount, the company’s experiments to expand beyond adult content (OFTV, comedy & athletes), policies and practical stance on AI, and how the company engages with regulation and payment partners.

Key metrics & business model

  • Users: ~400 million global users.
  • Creators: ~4 million creators.
  • Revenue: ~$7 billion annual revenue (recent year cited).
  • Payouts: ~$25 billion distributed historically to creators.
  • Fee split: 80% to creators / 20% to OnlyFans on payments.
  • Employee base: 42 full-time employees (very lean); ~$37M+ revenue per full-time employee.
  • Product mix: Subscriptions exist, but one-off purchases now dominate (≈67% of revenue last year).

Main themes and takeaways

  • OnlyFans’ origin and positioning:

    • Keely: OnlyFans was built for adults (18+) with direct monetization from day one, not explicitly as an adult-content-only site.
    • The platform gained prominence because it was the first to let creators monetize directly with an attractive revenue split.

  • Safety, verification, and moderation:

    • Strict onboarding/KYC: name, DOB, address, tax ID/SSN, bank details, government ID, other social accounts, plus third-party age verification.
    • Content is not end-to-end encrypted so the platform can moderate. OnlyFans emphasizes verification and moderation to make adult content safer than it often is elsewhere.

  • Societal role and stigma:

    • Keely argues OnlyFans improves creator safety and agency, offering monetization that can be life-changing compared with riskier alternatives.
    • She highlights gender-based stigma: questions focus on women creators more than men, reflecting misogyny in public discourse.

  • Expansion beyond “NSFW” core:

    • OFTV: a free, safe-for-work streaming arm to highlight other creator categories (comedy, athletes, etc.).
    • LMAOF: a grassroots comedy tour and content funnel (live shows → creator accounts → OFTV) as an experiment in paying creators.
    • Growth in non-adult verticals is deliberate and selective—OnlyFans will court big creators where brand fit exists.

  • Organization & hiring model:

    • Extremely lean full-time staff; hires are senior or hungry juniors with attitude/aptitude emphasized.
    • Minimal middle management; individual contributor-first culture (no “manager track”).
    • Flexible contracting for burst capacity (e.g., devs for projects).

  • AI policy and perspective:

    • No wholly AI accounts allowed—decision grounded in protecting creators’ monetization and because users prefer human-made media.
    • Creators may use AI tools to augment or operate (e.g., operational or enhancement tools), provided the human creator remains identifiable and fans know when AI is used.
    • Concern about authenticity—Keely expects demand for real human content to persist and possibly increase as AI proliferates.

  • Regulation stance:

    • Tech firms should engage proactively with regulators; principles-based legislation and stakeholder dialogue preferred.
    • Avoid repeating mistakes of early social media (privacy harms) while not stifling innovation.

Notable quotes

  • “OnlyFans was never created as an adult content site. It was always created as a site for adults.”
  • “Adult content creators are exceptionally savvy… they have been marginalized from other areas of the internet.”
  • “We hire incredibly senior talent and then we hire incredibly hungry junior talent… we do not have that sort of squidgy layer of middle management.”
  • “Three in four Americans say they want humans to produce their media and entertainment content, not AI.” (cited Ipsos trend)

Policy specifics & creator protections

  • Account verification is comprehensive (government ID + third-party age verification + payment/tax info).
  • Content moderation is active and more restrictive than common perception—OnlyFans is not a “wild west.”
  • AI: creators can use AI in supportive roles; fully AI-generated creators/accounts are banned. Transparency around AI use is required.

Experiments & growth plays

  • OFTV: safe-for-work streaming to diversify content and audience.
  • LMAOF: a touring comedy live show model to seed creator relationships and produce trimmed content for OFTV.
  • Payment expansion: recent PayPal integration; the company aims to broaden payment rails and financial inclusion for creators.
  • Selective courting of high-profile creators in non-adult verticals—pursued carefully for brand alignment.

Implications & recommendations

For creators:

  • OnlyFans is positioned as a direct monetization-first platform (80/20 split) with strong verification and moderation—attractive for creators seeking paid engagement.
  • One-off purchases are important revenue drivers; creators should consider single-purchase offerings, not just subscriptions.

For regulators & policymakers:

  • Engage industry in dialogue; favor principles-based legislation with iterative, targeted guidance rather than overly prescriptive early rules.

For investors/product builders:

  • The company demonstrates high revenue efficiency via a tiny core team and contractor model—consider lean operating models and individual contributor tracks for high-impact startups.

For platform designers & AI policymakers:

  • Prioritize authenticity and creator protection; require transparency around AI usage and preserve creators’ economic incentives.

Future outlook (Keely’s priorities for the next 2 years)

  • Greater public acceptance of the brand beyond its adult-content association.
  • Expanded payment options and financial services for creators (improved access to mainstream payment rails).
  • More inclusion of creators in conversations about AI and regulation.
  • Select, high-impact partnerships and creator deals in non-adult verticals when aligned with brand values.

Where to find the full episode

  • The conversation was recorded live at Web Summit Lisbon for Masters of Scale. Transcript and episode are available on Masters of Scale’s channels and YouTube (see show notes).