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Poor Pharma Bro Martin Shkrelli. He’s been banned for life from the pharmaceutical industry and is best known for greedily increasing the price of an AIDS medication from $13.50 to $750 a pill. This was after he spent about four years in federal prison for securities fraud in another case. Now, he has to surrender all of his copies of a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album. A federal judge also forbade him from “possessing, using, disseminating, or selling any interest” in the album, including files, data, etc.
Shkrelli bought the special album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” in 2015 for $2 million. The record was created in secret over six years and the group only ever intended for one single two-CD copy to exist. There was never supposed to be any digital or streaming release, either. Shkrelli sold the album to an NFT collectors group called PleasrDAO for $4.74 million over the course of two transactions in 2021 and 2024. But, like any good douche bro, Martin retained his own mp3 copies of the album and threatened to release them online despite not owning the rights to do so. So, the NFT group, suddenly aware of a scam, sued him. Classic case of FAFO.
Judge Pamela Chen in the Eastern District of New York granted a preliminary restraining order against Shkreli for “possessing, using, disseminating, or selling any interest in the Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” That includes any data, files or any other contents of the album. The Monday ruling is another step in the ongoing lawsuit between Shkreli and PleasrDAO, a group of NFT collectors, which bought the album in two transactions in 2021 and 2024 totaling $4.74 million. But they sued Shkreli in June because the convicted executive retained copies of the album and “intends to release them to the public,” according to the lawsuit.
In a statement, Shkreli’s lawyer Edward Paltzik said “this Order is merely a preliminary measure entered by the Court to maintain the perceived status quo before any discovery occurs – the Order has no bearing whatsoever on the final outcome of the case.”
“Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” was created by Wu-Tang in secret over the course of six years, with the group intending for only a single two-CD copy to ever exist, and with no accompanying digital or streaming release. In 2015, Shkreli paid a reported $2 million for the album, which included a hand-carved nickel-silver box, along with a leather-bound manuscript containing lyrics and a certificate of authenticity.
By releasing only one copy of the album, the legendary hip-hop group wanted to “put out a piece of art like nobody else has done in the history of (modern) music,” Wu-Tang member Robert “RZA” Diggs told Forbes in 2014.
But despite PleasrDAO officially owning the only copy of the album that is supposed to exist, Shkreli has hosted live streams where he bragged about retaining copies and played portions of the album, the lawsuit filed by PleasrDAO alleged. The lawsuit also alleged that Shkreli replied to a PleasrDAO member on X in a string of posts in April 2024, in which Shkreli claimed to have retained music files from the album.
“LOL i have the mp3s you moron,” Shkreli wrote on X. And the lawsuit alleges that Shkreli stated in a May podcast that he “burned the album and sent it to like, 50 different chicks.”
Shkreli became notorious as the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, which raised the price of the lifesaving drug Daraprim used by AIDS patients from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill. He faced charges and was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy related to his time as CEO of Retrophin (RTRX), a different biotech company, which ousted him in 2014. In 2018, he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison and ordered to pay a $750,000 fine, on top of a $7.4 million forfeiture.
The proceeds from the sale of “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” went toward the remaining balance on the forfeiture. Under the Monday ruling, Shkreli has to return all copies of the album to his defense counsel by August 30 and sign an affidavit confirming he did so. He has to sign another affidavit by September 30 disclosing an inventory of all of the copies he has, who received the copies — including names and addresses — as well as how much money he’s made from the distribution.
Steven Cooper, an attorney representing PleasrDAO, called the filing an “important victory” in a statement. “We are pleased that Judge Chen recognized that immediate relief was necessary to thwart the continuing bad acts of Mr. Shrkeli.”
This guy is an absolute f-cking moron. You’d think going to jail for your evil deeds would scare a person enough into not criming so obviously, but I guess in this case, a leopard can’t change its spots. I just can’t get over how brazen he was about the whole thing! I’m not advocating for breaking the law, but he could have just kept the mp3s for personal use and never said a damn thing. His ego just wouldn’t let him keep his mouth shut. Hell, I’m not convinced he actually really did give up all of his copies. What an idiot. Speaking of idiots, this album may be the only smart thing these NFT bros ever invested in, so good for them, I guess.
This is a proper level of respect https://t.co/2BYtxZyAvF
— ✨ Pleasr (@PleasrDAO) July 15, 2024
This concludes phase 1. The encrypted album sale has been closed.
Congrats to the collectors of the most famous music in the world.
Phase 2 launching soon ✨ https://t.co/MV6hpQhqGi
— ✨ Pleasr (@PleasrDAO) August 26, 2024
Is the public ever going to get access to this music? SMH that anything created by Wu-Tang Clan is now owned by elitist multimillionaires. One is a convicted felon who should be broke by now and the other, an NFT group.
Wu-Tang Clan wanted it this way – who else would buy their one-of-a-kind recording but a millionaire?
It’s weird of them to have wanted it this way and not expect it to end up in the hands of a rich idiot like that. I know it was meant as a piece of art but I don’t see how it could be in any way beneficial to their fans who will never get access to it.
Why are there some people that are just 100 percent terrible? Gosh he sucks. I know that’s trivializing.
Ugh, how probably not psyched were the wu tang clan when that jerk bought it?
But of course Shkreli would have kept copies. What I don’t get is that anyone believed he’d honestly felt bound to honor a contract.
The biggest issue for me is the price gouging of that HIV drug though. It’s not like MS funded research with his profits, or improved the product, or anything. People like him are prime examples of that kind of capitalism where health is a commodity, not a human right.
does anyone know more about that crypto he said he created with Barron Trump? AFAIK no one from the trump admin has said it isnt true
Shkrelli collaborating with a Trump? That tracks.