Source: Matt Kent / Getty / Getty
Earlier in The year Martin Shkreli, a 32-year-old former hedge fund manager, current CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals and Full Time A Hole, came under fire for doing one of the crappiest moves of 2015, no he didn’t say some outlandish shit or try and ban a race of people or religion from The U.S (apparently those people can run for president with no problem though). He decided nobody would have a problem with him hiking the price of Daraprim, a medication used to treat HIV and cancer patients, from $13.50 to $750 per pill!
Yeah, this guy is a ray of selfless sunshine…
After being dragged mercilessly by major media outlets and social media you would think he would stay away from the limelight for some time. I was wrong, this time around he isn’t in the news for endangering the lives of millions of people. He’s in the news something less maniacal but something just s strange, the man randomly decided to purchase the one and ONLY copy of Wu-Tang’s new album “Once Upon a Time In Shaolin” for a rumored 2 Million Dollars, because why the hell not, he might as well do something with his ill gotten gains right?
Bloomberg Business spoke on how the deal came to be.
“Shkreli heard about Once Upon a Time in Shaolin and thought it would be nice to own, too. He attended a private listening session at the Standard Hotel hosted by Paddle8 co-founder Alexander Gilkes. Shkreli, who describes himself as a bit of a recluse, recalls Gilkes telling him that if he bought the record, he would have the opportunity to rub shoulders with celebrities and rappers who would want to hear it. “Then I really became convinced that I should be the buyer,” Shkreli says. (Paddle8 declined to comment, citing their policy of client confidentiality.) He also got to have lunch with RZA. “We didn’t have a ton in common,” Shkreli says. “I can’t say I got to know him that well, but I obviously like him.”
The thing that kinda sorta pisses me off is that he hasn’t even bothered listening to his one of a kind record because apparently he’s saving it for a time when he’s feeling low and needs something to lift his spirits.
“I could be convinced to listen to it earlier if Taylor Swift wants to hear it or something like that, But for now, I think I’m going to kind of save it for a rainy day.” Says Shkreli
Shkreli also talked about how he was
worried that his Daraprim Scandal would affect the outcome of the purchase.
“I was a little worried that they were going to walk out of the deal,” he says. “But by then we’d closed. The whole kind of thing since then has been just kind of ‘Well, do we want to announce it’s him? Do we not want to announce it’s him?’ I think they were trying to cover their butts a little bit.”
Wu-Tang Clan member RZA has now confirmed the rappers agreed to donate a portion of the sale to a good cause after the revelations about the buyer came to light.
“The sale of ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ was agreed upon in May, well before Martin Skhreli’s business practices came to light,” says RZA. “We decided to give a significant portion of the proceeds to charity.”
Good job by the Wu for doing the right thing 👏🏼
UPDATE: This story has gotten a lot weirder!!! There has been speculation that the contract Shkreli signed comes with hilariously awesome clause: according to apparent contract text posted to Twitter, every active member of the Wu-Tang Clan is entitled to steal back the album with no legal repercussions, and so is Bill Murray.
The entire clause, as written in the alleged contract, can be read below.
The buying party also agrees that at any time during the stipulated 88 year period, the seller may legally plan and attempt to execute one (1) heist or caper to steal back Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, which, if successful, would return all ownership rights to the seller. Said heist or caper can only be undertaken by currently active members of the Wu-Tang Clan and/or actor Bill Murray, with no legal repercussions.
I don’t even care if this is fake or not, this is an AMAZING movie idea, somebody please buy the rights to this and make it happen!
