From Scumbag CEO to FBI Fraud Arrest: 6 Things You Need To Know About Martin Shkreli

5. The Flip-Flop

No, not the shoes that you wear to the beach. After much public outrage over the massive price hike of Daraprim, Shkreli announced that the company would reverse its decision and not raise the price. The collective communities of the internet like Reddit and Tumblr cried cheers of victory — they had won! Except they hadn’t.

As everyone quickly moved on the next thing that offended them (Donald Trump, Cam Newton dancing in endzones, Star Wars spoilers, etc), Shkreli quietly announced that he had reversed his decision to reverse the decision. The price hike remained.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/09/22/hillary-clinton-biotech-shkreli-hedge-fund-pharmaceutical-gupta-sot-nr.cnn Via cnn.com

4. Once Upon A Time in Shaolin

Remember hearing about that secret album by the Wu-Tang Clan that would ever sell one copy? Well, that one copy was bought by none other than Martin Shkreli, who clearly has more money than sense. It was revealed that he paid around $2 million for the album, which was auctioned off online. Part of the purchasing contract means that he cannot sell it or release it commercially for 88 years, although he can let people listen to it for free. Call us crazy, but we can’t really see him doing that.

http://www.refinedguy.com/2015/03/03/once-upon-a-time-in-shaolin-wu-tang-album/ Via refinedguy.com

3. He Owns His Own E-Sports Team

When he’s not price-gouging AIDS patients or buying million dollar novelties, Shkreli is an avid League of Legends player. After failing to acquire an existing team, he founded his own — Odyssey eSports. After Odyssey failed to qualify for the 2015 North American League of Legends Challenger Series, Shkreli managed to merge his team with Imagine. He routinely hosted livestreams on YouTube of him playing League of Legends while doling out financial advice to viewers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M8I5YKZ8zQ Via YouTube

2. He Tried Bailed Out An Alleged Murderer/Rapper

Bobby Shmurda was an up-and-coming rapper from Brooklyn before he was arrested in 2014 on charges of murder, attempted murder, and multiple weapon and drug charges. In an interview with HipHopDX.com published in December 2015, Shkreli said that he was trying to bail out Shmurda because he was rotting away in the Rikers Island prision while he awaits trial:

We’re actually in discussion to try to bail out Bobby Shmurda. Forget whether you think he’s guilty or not, the guy should not be sitting in jail right now. It’s insane. He’s from Brooklyn. I’m from Brooklyn. He deserves a fair trial. He deserves good lawyers. He doesn’t have good lawyers. His label is hanging him out to dry and so I have a conference call tomorrow morning with them (December 15). I’ll show up with $2 million bail money no fucking problem. He’s not going to flee the country. I’m not going to lose anything. I’m going to try to make that happen. That’s one thing I’m working on.

http://www.vulture.com/2015/05/bobby-shmurda-court-case.html Via Vulture.com

1. He Was Arrested By The FBI For Fraud

On December 17, 2015, Shkreli was arrested by federal agents for securities fraud. The investigation dates back to when he founded Retrophin Inc. in 2011. Details have been scarce, but Bloomberg reported that he has been accused of using company stocks and cash to pay off debts from “unrelated business dealings.” Shkreli is also facing a civil suit where Retrophin is suing him, their former founder and CEO, for using the company’s accounts as a “personal piggybank” to pay off clients who were unhappy with the performance of his defunct hedge fund.

http://gawker.com/heres-your-martin-shkreli-perp-walk-schadenfreude-galle-1748514916 Via Gawker