Brands
Roger Federer shifts from Nike to Uniqlo
MUMBAI: International tennis icon Roger Federer has ended his 20-year association with Nike. Federer has now become the brand ambassador of Japanese outfit company, Uniqlo.
Neither Uniqlo, Federer or Nike had made any previous announcement about the deal and it was only during the Wimbledon match on Monday where he was seen without the Nike swoosh on his bandana and the RF logo on his jacket that the change was revealed.
In a statement issued on Monday, Uniqlo CEO Tadashi Yanai said, “Our partnership will be about innovation on and off court.”
Having Federer on board will boost Uniqlo’s global expansion plan, especially in Europe where the company is said to open new stores. The clothing company already has a strong presence in China, but may face challenge in markets where Zara, H&M and more are already established.
The winner of 20 grand slam titles, Roger Federer will represent the brand at all tennis tournaments for a year. According to ESPN, the tennis champion will earn $300 million from the deal over a period of 10 years.
In the past, Uniqlo endorsed 12-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic for a period of five years. Djokovic however moved away from the brand and signed Lacoste in 2017.
Federer signed his first contract with Nike in 1994 and continues to wear Nike shoes, as Uniqlo doesn’t make athletic footwear.
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.
