In addition to being one of the most hated men in the world thanks to his controversial work in the pharmaceutical industry, Martin Shkreli has drawn much criticism from music fans as well for his purchasing of that one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album. Now, he’s being forced to give it up.
Back in 2015, it was reported that Martin Shkreli had purchased Wu-Tang Clan’s one-off album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin for about $2 million USD. Following plenty of scorn for his refusal to share it with the wider musical community (as he claimed he would), Shkreli then tried to sell it last year for a starting bid of $1.
“I decided to purchase this album as a gift to the Wu-Tang Clan for their tremendous musical output,” he wrote on eBay at the time. “Instead I received scorn from at least one of their (least-intelligent) members, and the world at large failed to see my purpose of putting a serious value behind music.”
However, this mess soon took a sharp turn as it was announced that with Shkreli facing up to 20 years in prison for securities fraud, US federal prosecutors were seeking $7.4 million in assets from the disgraced CEO, of which his Wu-Tang Clan album was included.
As CNBC reports, it seems as though the reportedly broke Shkreli now has cough up this amount in the form of a list of “substitute assets”, which includes a Pablo Picasso painting, a stake in the Vyera Pharmaceuticals company, $5 million in cash held in an E-Trade brokerage account, a copy of Lil Wayne’s The Carter V, and of course, Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon A Time In Shaolin.
While Martin Shkreli’s lawyer has previously said he shouldn’t have to pay anything “because there was no loss” from his crimes, there has been no statement made by Shkreli or his representation at this stage.
Famously, Shkreli entered an agreement when he purchased the album back in 2015 that the album could not be sold in any way until 2103 (though he would’ve been able to give away the music for free if he chose to). However, if a new buyer emerges, they will reportedly not be subject to this clause, meaning that they would be free to offer the album up to the public. In any case, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Martin Shkreli is set to be sentenced on Friday, March 9th, and faces more than ten years in prison if convicted.
Check out Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Lesson Learn’d’:
