OnlyFans' founder has unexpectedly stepped down as CEO. His replacement is an ex-cannabis marketer.

• OnlyFans CEO and founder Tim Stokely announced Tuesday he's stepping down as CEO.
• He has been replaced by the firm's chief marketing and communications officer Amrapali Gan.

OnlyFans' 38-year-old founder and CEO Tim Stokely unexpectedly announced Tuesday he's stepping down from the top job with immediate effect.

The company's chief marketing and communications officer, Amrapali Gan, has taken over Stokely's role.

Stokely said in an Instagram post that Gan has a "deep passion" for OnlyFans. Stokely founded OnlyFans with his brother Thomas and father Guy in 2016, and the site has become a popular platform for creators to post content and make money directly from their fans. It is particularly well-known for hosting adult content.

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"I'm passing the baton on to a colleague and a friend, who has the vision and drive to help the organisation reach tremendous potential," Stokely wrote in his post. He gave no indication of what he might be doing next.

A post shared by Tim Stokely (@timstokely)

According to an OnlyFans press release, Gan, 36, has only been at the company since 2020.

Prior to OnlyFans, she was vice president of marketing at "the first cannabis restaurant in the US." Gan's LinkedIn identifies this as the Cannabis Café in West Hollywood, California. Insider's Tallie Spencer visited the café, whose menu listed "a cannabis menu made up of edibles, pre-rolled joints, and more."

OnlyFans saw a boom during the pandemic, with user numbers shooting up from 20 million pre-pandemic to 120 million by the end of 2020, mostly in the US. The firm takes a cut of fan subscriptions, and reported a six-fold year-on-year increase in turnover to £283 million ($377 million) and pre-tax profits of £53 million ($71 million), according to accounts for the year to November 2020.

However, troubles hit in August when the company announced it would ban sexually explicit material. It reversed the decision later that same month, with Stokely saying the company's hand had been forced by banking partners.

According to the UK's Companies House, Guy Stokely, formerly a banker, remains a director at OnlyFans. The firm is majority owned by Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American entrepreneur and founder of webcam porn site MyFreeCams. According to the Financial Times, Radvinsky had sought to offload part of his stake in OnlyFans earlier this year.

"I am proud to assume this role. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our creator community to help them maximize control over, and monetise, their content," Gan said in a statement.