Brands
L’Oréal India names digital pro Aniket Basu as chief digital officer
MUMBAI: L’Oréal India has appointed Aniket Basu as chief digital officer for its consumer products division, tapping the experienced digital marketing specialist to spearhead the beauty giant’s digital transformation strategy in one of Asia’s most dynamic markets.
Basu joins the Indian operation after nearly three years as digital media lead for L’Oréal’s south Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa regions, where he was based in Singapore and responsible for digital strategy across 15 markets.
The appointment marks a homecoming for the Ohio State University graduate, who began his career in India before building an impressive 12-year international résumé spanning multiple markets and agencies.
“India is a market of immense dynamism, where digital innovation and consumer engagement are evolving at an extraordinary pace,” Basu said of his appointment. “The opportunities to drive impact, scale transformation, and shape the future of growth are limitless.”
Prior to joining L’Oréal in 2022, Basu served in senior leadership roles at WPP-owned agencies, including senior director positions at Essence in Singapore, where he focused on technology and e-commerce. He also spent over seven years at Wavemaker, progressing from business executive in India to associate digital director for the Asia-Pacific region.
His expertise spans strategy and planning, data analytics, adtech deployment, search optimisation and first-party data strategy – skills that will prove crucial as L’Oréal seeks to capitalise on India’s rapidly expanding digital beauty market.
Basu holds an MBA from Singapore Management University, where he made the Dean’s List in 2021, and completed specialised training in premium and luxury brand management at IE Business School.
Industry observers note that his appointment comes as L’Oréal intensifies its focus on e-commerce and digital engagement in India, where online beauty sales have surged over 300 per cent since 2020.
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.
