Infamous “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli is almost as good at hocking his possessions on eBay as he is at jacking up the price of critical AIDS-related medication.
Less than two days after posting the world’s only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan double album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” on eBay, bidding on the CD has already passed the $1 million threshold — and there’s still eight days left to go.
Shkreli, who became “the most hated man in America” after his company raised the price of antiparasitic drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent, shelled out $2 million for the disc in 2015,
making it most expensive work of music ever sold. He was convicted of securities fraud in Aug., 2017l, and is now awaiting sentencing, but he insists he isn’t selling the album because he’s cash-strapped.
“I am not selling to raise cash — my companies and I have record amounts of cash on hand,” said Shkreli in the eBay post.
Also Read: Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Lists $2 Million Wu-Tang Album on eBay
Now, the 34-year-old said he’s hoping “someone with a bigger heart for music can be found for this one-of-a-kind piece and make it available for the world to hear.” Continuing his newfound altruistic approach, Shkreli said he’ll be giving half of the final bid to charity.
“Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” was auctioned off in 2015 with a binding stipulation that it cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, though the owner of the CD is allowed to release the individual songs for free, or play the album at listening parties. Shkreli drew outrage after he was revealed as the winning bidder and even Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah called him a “super villain” at the time.
For his part, Shkreli seemed to glee in public scorn, even threatening to destroy the album if Donald Trump wasn’t elected president in 2016. His purported change of heart aside, he’s is still keeping destruction of the album on the table — in his eBay posting, he said “at any time I may cancel this sale and I may even break this album in frustration.”
So much for having “a bigger heart for music.”
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