Brands
Cleartrip signs up Mahendra Singh Dhoni as brand ambassador
Mumbai: Cleartrip, a Flipkart company, has onboarded the cricketing legend – Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its new brand ambassador. This collaboration marks a historic milestone for Cleartrip as it joins forces with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and advocates to make the right choices in travel. Under the bucket of “ClearChoice,” the brand aims to inspire travellers to simplify decision-making and ensure seamless and anxiety-free travel experiences.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, fondly known as Captain Cool, epitomizes the values of, Transparency, Optimism and Straightforwardness, making him the perfect embodiment of Cleartrip’s ethos. Through this association, Cleartrip seeks to leverage Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s universal appeal that transcends generations and geographies and reinforce its position as a trusted travel partner for a diverse user base. This is in line with Cleartrip’s vision to make travel accessible, aggressively expand its customer base and drive its market presence.
Cleartrip brand ambassador Mahendra Singh Dhoni said, “Throughout my career, travelling across continents, I have been a true globetrotter, and I discovered my love for travel. After so many years, travel has become something I look forward to. I couldn’t be more thrilled to come onboard Cleartrip, a brand that mirrors what travel should be like – fun, memorable and meaningful. In my career, I continue to make tough decisions every day, but with Cleartrip, decision-making is easy and straightforward. Their commitment to transparency simplifies choices and allows anyone to go on a journey of their dreams confidently.”
Speaking on the collaboration, Cleartrip CEO Ayyappan R stated, “We are thrilled to welcome Mahendra Singh Dhoni to the Cleartrip family. He is a revered sportsman who has inspired an entire generation – he is known for his values and is often associated with building trust and great leadership skills. Through our association with him, we hope to empower individuals to make the right choices in travel, seamlessly. As we continue to grow in scale, we hope to make travel an achievable aspiration for everyone, no matter where they are from. With Mahendra Singh Dhoni aboard, we aim to encourage a large demographic to step out and explore the world with confidence.”
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will mark his debut innings with Cleartrip with an entertaining ad film that will soon go live.
Together, Cleartrip and Mahendra Singh Dhoni aspire to inspire travellers across the country to trust in ClearChoice and embark on journeys filled with clarity, confidence, and unforgettable experiences. Come onboard Cleartrip, follow the captain’s lead and make the right choice.
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
