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Martin Shkreli Celebrates Conviction By Live-Streaming Wu-Tang Album, Talking About Self
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Aug 7, 2017
Modified Apr 8, 2018
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Aug 7, 2017
Modified Apr 8, 2018
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Within an hour of receiving a split verdict in his securities fraud trial on Friday, media-hungry internet villain Martin Shkreli took to his YouTube livestream to celebrate the decision, congratulate himself in the third person, and play a portion of his exclusive Wu-Tang Clan album.
The stream, which lasted for much of the weekend and was outlandish even by Shkreli's standards, followed a verdict in which he was found guilty on three of eight counts of securities and wire fraud. But despite facing up to 20 years in prison, Shkreli seemed relieved on the stream, and said he only expects to spend up to a few months in jail, at worst (most legal analysts agree). "This could have been a real big setback for my life, but it's gonna end up being a footnote in my life," he told an online audience of thousands on Friday.
Previous footnotes in Shkreli's life include harassing female journalists on Twitter; spreading far-right conspiracy theories; and, most famously, raising the price of a lifesaving drug used to treat AIDS and cancer patients by more than 5,000 percent. Friday's verdict, meanwhile, stemmed from an unrelated 2015 arrest, in which he was accused of illegally taking stock from his biotech company Retrophin—he was ousted in 2014—and for defrauding investors.
Shkreli, free on $5 million bail, used the swarm of media attention around his case to refocus attention on the Shkreli brand—talking about himself and all of the money he has. A few hours into Friday's live-stream, he invited a reporter from the Daily News up to his Manhattan apartment, where he live-streamed their conversation without, apparently, the reporter's knowledge. "Unbeknownst to me, he was live-streaming the interview on YouTube, where legions of his followers provided running commentary," Daily News reporter Ellen Moynihan wrote Saturday.
Later in the conversation (around the 49 minute mark in the video above), Shkreli pulls out Wu-Tang Clan's one-of-a-kind album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which he reportedly purchased for millions of dollars. As he's done previously, Shkreli played about 10 minutes from the 31-track album, all the while talking over the music, and explaining his love of the group's "literary devices."
Later on, the Washington Post reports, he pretended to take a phone call from President Trump, and referred to the trial as a "witch hunt of epic proportions." He also vowed to appeal the ruling, and said he expects some charges to be dropped.
"It doesn't seem like life will change very much for Martin Shkreli, basically ever," Shkreli said, referring to himself. "I'm one of the richest New Yorkers there is, and after this outcome, it's going to stay that way."
Tagged
martin shkreli
ponzi scheme
securities fraud
trial
turing pharmaceutical
wu-tang clan
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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