‘Pharma bro’ Shkreli ordered to hand over exclusive Wu-Tang recordings

August 29, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — CONTROVERSIAL INVESTOR MARTIN Shkreli was ordered last week by a judge in Brooklyn federal court to surrender all copies of the Wu-Tang Clan rap album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” reports The Verge, as part of a lawsuit between “Shaolin”’s owner and the former pharmaceutical executive, who became notorious in 2015 for spiking the price of an antiparasitic drug and was later convicted of securities fraud. “Shaolin” was produced as a one-of-a-kind album in a protest against digital music services, with only one copy of the record ever made, which was bought by Shkreli for $2 million in 2015 and then seized and sold by the government to pay a forfeiture penalty. Purchaser crypto group PleasrDAO is now suing over allegations that Shkreli made and distributed multiple copies of the album — against the restrictions set by the Wu-Tang Clan on its initial purchase — diluting the value of their investment.

Shkreli has allegedly extensively admitted to doing so, according to Wired: he hosted “listening parties” on social media where he streamed the album to followers, bragged on a podcast about sending copies to “like 50 different chicks,” and allegedly stated, “I’m not stupid. I don’t buy something for $2 million just so I can keep one copy;” Shkreli will have until Sept. 30 to turn over a list of album copies to Judge Pamela K. Chen.

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