Profile
Martin Shkreli, born on March 17, 1983, in Brooklyn, New York, is an American investor and businessman of Albanian and Croatian descent. He co-founded hedge funds Elea Capital, MSMB Capital Management, and MSMB Healthcare, and served as CEO of pharmaceutical firms Retrophin and Turing Pharmaceuticals. Shkreli gained notoriety in 2015 when Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the antiparasitic drug Daraprim and increased its price from $13.50 to $750 per pill, a move that sparked widespread public outrage.
In 2017, Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy, resulting in a seven-year prison sentence and fines totaling $7.4 million. He was released early in May 2022 after serving approximately five years.
Known for his provocative behavior, Shkreli once compared himself to historical industrialists, stating, “I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but I liken myself to the robber barons.”
He also purchased the sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” for $2 million, further cementing his controversial public image.
