OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely has stepped down from his position as CEO, naming spokesperson Amrapali “Ami” Gan as his successor effective immediately. The choice seems fairly unusual.
“Ami has a deep passion for OnlyFans’ business and I’m passing the baton to a friend and colleague who has the vision and drive to help the organization reach its tremendous potential,” Stokely said in a press release on Tuesday. “OnlyFans is still a new company and Ami brings a fresh energy and reflects who we are as a business.”
Still, despite Stokley’s confidence in Gan’s leadership, appointing her as OnlyFan’s new CEO is a strange decision on the face of it. Having joined OnlyFans just last year, Gan worked as its Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, and held a string of marketing and communications jobs before then. It will be interesting to see how she plans to grow the platform, and in what direction she plans to steer the company.
“I look forward to continuing to work closely with our creator community to help them maximize control over, and monetize, their content,” said Gan. “By blending state of the art technology with creative capital, we are committed to being the safest social media platform in the world.”
OnlyFans states that Stokley’s decision to step down was due to a desire to “pursue new endeavors,” though the company declined to comment further when contacted by Mashable. Even so, Stokley won’t just vanish into the night. The company’s first CEO will be staying on as an advisor through the transition of leadership, hopefully ensuring a smooth transfer of power.
What is OnlyFans?
Founded in 2016, OnlyFans rose to notoriety as a popular platform for sex workers, enabling them to charge for exclusive content such as explicit photos. The platform saw a boom in users during the COVID-19 pandemic as many people sought to make up lost income, and OnlyFans gained celebrity users such as Bella Thorne and Cardi B.
Yet despite building its success on the back of sex workers, OnlyFans attempted to ban sexually explicit content earlier this year, claiming that the platform’s raunchy reputation was scaring off investors. The company quickly reversed the decision just days later following significant backlash from users — most notably sex workers who feared the ban would jeopardize their ability to earn a living. However, the threatened ban has significantly shaken some sex workers’ faith in OnlyFans, leaving Gan with the unenviable role of regaining that trust.