Martin Shkreli is one of the most infamous individuals in America. Raised in Brooklyn, Shkreli became a millionaire by his mid-twenties. Born to two immigrants, he became an avid fan of hip-hop music in his youth, which (unfortunately or not) led him to invest in the culture. Martin Shkreli made his millions as a businessman. After college he both managed and created hedge funds firms, which are a group of investors that use risky methods to turn a profit. It was methods he used during that time that got him locked up now. Unsatisfied with hedge fund money, he move on and worked as a CEO for two pharmaceutical companies. His smug grin has made headlines over the last two years for a number of reasons. He has promoted pedophilia, hiked the cost of important HIV/AIDS medicine, and attempted to bribe Kanye West. Like many cowards, his weapon of choice is Twitter. He is infamous for going on rants that have forced Twitter to ban him.
Last year Shkreli purchased the only copy of Once upon A Time In Shaolin, a secret Wu-Tang album that is incased in a nickel box with handwritten member notes. He has since constantly threaten to destroy it, and even streamed it live when Trump won the election last fall. Somehow, the guy also has a copy of Tha Carter V, and has leaked tracks from that album as well. As karma would have it, the 34-year old pharma-bro was recently convicted of securities fraud, and is sitting in a federal jail in Brooklyn. The FBI arrested Shkreli for running a Ponzi-scheme at his companies in 2015. Shkreli claims that the FBI is targeting him for hiking the price of AIDS medicine, but that's irrelevant. He is a crooked business man, and a stain on the hip-hop community. While Mr. Shkreli patiently awaits his Jan. 16 sentencing date, let's check out his most douche-y moments.
Martin Shkreli trolls the LGBQT community and promotes pedophilia
Shkreli is a horrendous Twitter troll. Earlier this year he satirically tweeted, "Please spread clovergender awareness." Clovergender is a fictional term, part of a 4chan hoax campaign which Shkreli took part in, to discredit the transgender community and defend pedophilia. By its fictional definition, clovergenders are children trapped in adult bodies who are sexually attracted to children. Soon after his post, several accounts backed up the false gender classification. Of course, adults who are attracted to children are pedophiles and should not be associated with the LGBTQ community. After the Tweet, Snopes debunked the existence of clovergenders, and he was banned from Twitter.
Martin Shkreli offers $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair
This past week, Martin Shkreli took to Facebook to offer $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair. He claimed that the post, which has since been deleted, was satirical. Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto claimed this was an act to solicit assault though, and Shkreli's bail was denied. The post read:
"The Clinton Foundation is willing to KILL to protect its secrets. So on HRC's book tour, try to grab a hair from her. I must confirm the sequences I have. Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton."
Apparently Clinton wasn't the only woman targeted in Shkreli's recent online antics, either.
Recently Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud, and instead of awaiting his sentencing from home, he will now sit in a jail cell until next year.
Martin Shkreli tries to convince Kanye not to release The Life Of Pablo
Last year Kanye West announced his follow up to the polarizing Yeezus album. Fans had patiently awaited a new 'Ye project since the previous effort My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was such a classic, and Yeezus stepped away from the hip-hop sound. Martin Shkreli offered Kanye West $10 million to shelf The Life Of Pablo album, and release the only copy to him. At the time he claimed that Kanye's lawyers were required to at least look over the documents for the purchase. After he received no response from 'Ye, he upped the offer to $15 million. Obviously, Kanye did not take Shkreli up on his offer, and he dropped the project of his own accord. As if The Life of Pablo wasn't enough of a gift to hip-hop, Shkreli tweeted that an associate of Kanye actually robbed him of the $15 million. According to Shkreli, he had signed over the rights to the album and a bitcoin exchange was made with a man made Daquan for the $15 million.
Martin Shkreli hikes AIDS/HIV pills from $7.50 to $350
This is the decision thrust Martin Shkreli into the spotlight and turned him into a trending name. When he purchased the manufacturing license for Daraprim, he hiked to price up from $7.50 to $350. Daraprim is a drug primarily used by AIDS/HIV carriers. When Shkreli bought the license, he also limited the sale of the drug nationwide. It was pulled from most pharmacies and distribution was tightly regulated. He made it so that the only place to get the drug was from the source, himself. Shkreli attempted to cut out the middle man and manipulate insurance companies into paying exorbitant amounts for medicine that was cheap. He is the epitome of everything that is wrong with the health system in America.
Martin Shkreli leaks tracks from The Carter V
Birdman and Lil Wayne fell out because of Tha Carter V (and of course, related monetary disputes). The album is being held hostage by the Cash Money Millionaire creator, and fans have been on the edge of their seats waiting for the release of the project for years. Somehow, Martin Shkreli got his hands on the album and leaked a track last December, which angered Lil Wayne, of course. Shkreli promised not to leak any more music, but then again earlier this year Shkreli leaked two more tracks via live stream. One leaked track featured Kendrick Lamar, which he called the best song on the album. Birdman claims that he doesn't have the album, and that Wayne is the only person in possession of it, so no one is sure how Shkreli got it. Wayne, for his part, has stated recently that he can drop the album whenever he wants.
Martin Shkreli streams exlusive $2 million Wu-Tang Album when Trump won the election
Wu-Tang Clan secretly recorded Once Upon A Time In Shaolin and only produced one copy. The album was placed in a hand carved nickel plated box that is filled with hand written lyrics, notes, and stories. Wu-Tang auctioned the album off, and it fell into the hands of Shkreli for a cool $2 million. Being the douche bag that he is, Shkreli has threatened to destroy the album on several occasions. A few weeks ago he even tried selling it to pay for his growing legal fees. When President Trump won the election, Shkreli live streamed a few tracks from the album as a celebration. Definitely not the way Wu-Tang fans would have liked to hear the project. Fortunately, in a weird buyers agreement, Wu-Tang included a clause that states the album can be stolen back by any member of the Clan, or Bill Murray, with no legal repercussions.
Martin Shkreli is convicted of fraud for running a Ponzi-scheme
Karma is a bitch. While running his companies, Shkreli was using Ponzi-scheme like methods to make more millions. The FBI caught on and arrested him in 2015, and the legal battle has been playing out for the last two years. A Ponzi-scheme is essentially a plot to use investors money to fund other investors. Everyone involved believes that they are being paid back through business investments, while in reality the master of the scheme is juggling everyones money. Recently, Shkreli was found guilty on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. His sentencing is due for January.
Martin Shkreli spends 10k of company money on Jay-Z tickets
Jay Z is a legend and a force within both the hip-hop world and the business world. Tickets for his concerts are usually on the more expensive end, but Shkreli went overboard. He spent $10,000 on Jay Z tickets, and used his company's funds for the transaction. Apparently, his company barley had the funds to cover the tickets, but that's a farce. Shkreli has transferred company money from corporate accounts to personal accounts in the past, and he no doubt has funds off shore. The fact that he spent 10k on the tickets doesn't highlight irresponsible spending, it actually calls attention to his shady bank account transactions.
Martin Shkreli threathens to slap Ghostface Killah
The hip-hop world cringed when Shkreli purchased the Wu-Tang album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin for $2 million. He was the last person who deserved the only copy available on this planet. Wu-Tang members were less than pleased to hand their masterpiece over to the pharmaceutical crook, and Shkreli took offense to their displeasure. On an interview with Power 105.1 The Breakfast Club, Shkreli commented on Ghostface Killah stating, "If he were here right now, I'd smack him right in the face." Ghostface and Shkreli have been beefing since the album was purchased, and both have released diss videos aimed at each other.
Martin Shkreli harasses journalist Lauren Duca
Lauren Duca is a journalist for Vogue, but she has also contributed to Complex, Vice, and The New Yorker. After the election of Donald Trump, Shkreli reached out to Duca and asked her to be his date for the inauguration day festivities. She rejected him, which promoted him to create photoshopped pictures of the two of them together. He posted the pictures on Twitter, which got him temporarily banned after Duca brought his actions to the attention of Twitter executives. In July, Shkreli posted on Facebook that if he got acquitted of his fraud charges he would have sex with Duca. Looks like his plan fell through.