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IAA kick starts mentorship plan for women
MUMBAI: International Advertising Association (IAA) brings up a specialised mentorship program for women which will help them to progress and also empower them to climb the corporate ladder by giving them the right guidance and mentorship by industry leaders.
The mentorship program is designed to train and encourage women who are talented and have had work experience of 8-10 years. It got a unanimous cheer from the industry when it was launched early this year.
The IAA committee, which consist of Lodestar UM CEO Nandini Dias, Zirca Digital Solutions CEO Neena Dasgupta, IAA President Ramesh Narayan, chief operating officer BTVI- Business Television India took time out to carefully analyse and handpick women who will now get a chance to meet, engage and receive mentorship via four sessions from industry leaders over the next six months.
IAA President Ramesh Narayan shares, “We have been working on this programme around the clock and are very happy with the way it is shaping up. We have finished the selection process and will now roll out the phase I of the activity. It is a long-term plan and we are glad to get it started.”
The mentorship programme is the brainchild of IAA vice president (chief operating officer BTVI- Business Television India) Megha Tata who is also driving the initiative. She said, “The idea of encouraging someone to achieve their true potential is a very fulfilling thought and that is exactly what this programme achieves to do. We have shortlisted 23 women who will be receiving mentorship from some of the leading industry experts. We are sure this exchange will be valuable and will empower women leaders over a period in time.”
The IAA has roped in 23 amazing mentors which include Viacom18 COO Raj Nayak, South Asia Dentsu Aegis chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin, Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, Star India managing director Sanjay Gupta, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd CEO Punit Misra, Farm Equipment Sector president Rajesh Jejurikar, Member of the Group Executive Board, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, Dainik Bhaskar executive president Bhaskar Das, Dainik Bhaskar non executive director Girish Agarwal, The Times of India Group president revenue Sivakumar Sundaram to name in few.
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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.
