What is Martin Shkreli's net worth? Fresh look at why Pharma Bro remains in prison and romance with journalist
Martin Shkreli has been a topic of discussion after an explosive report in Elle magazine came to light on Sunday, December 20. The report looks at the relationship between a former Bloomberg News reporter who quit her job, got divorced and froze her eggs for the imprisoned former CEO of the biotechnology firm Retrophin, Martin.
In 2015, Christie Smythe was tipped off by a source that Martin was under federal investigation for securities law violations. At that point, Smythe wasn’t aware of who he was — few people were — but after some research, she learned he was a brash, self-taught young executive who had started hedge funds in his twenties, then moved on to establish pharmaceutical companies Retrophin and Turing.
Smythe called up Martin, dubbed "Pharma Bro", and he argued she “had no idea what I was talking about". But believing her source, she published the story anyway, breaking the news of the investigation. But since Martin wasn’t well known, it didn’t make an impact. In December 2015, Smythe broke the story of Martin’s arrest and “the Internet lit up", she told Elle. Soon, after various interactions, Smythe realized her attraction to Martin.
By 2018, her marriage was almost over and she quit her job at Bloomberg News after she realized when her superiors alerted her about her tweets defending Martin were biased and unprofessional. “It’s hard to think of a time when I felt happier,” Smythe says. “At first he’s like, ‘Can I call you my girlfriend?’ ” she says, and “this led very naturally into thinking about a future together.”
Soon they were discussing their children. After Smythe was concerned about being too old to have children when Martin got out of prison, he suggested she freeze her eggs, and she did that too. However, when Martin found out about the Elle article, he stopped communicating with her. He didn’t wish for her to tell her story, she says. Smythe assumes it’s because he’s worried about fallout for her.
What is Martin Shkreli's net worth?
According to a 2018 Fortune report, as stated in Yahoo, Martin’s net worth was more than $27.1 million, according to court filings leading up to his sentencing at that time. He was known to be a lavish spender, according to the report. Marti purchased a one-off Wu-Tang Clan album for a reported $2M. Another website, Celebrity Net Worth, states his net worth as $70 million.
A look at his controversies
He became infamous after allegedly increasing the price of an HIV-related drug by 5,000 percent. According to NPR, he purchased the lifesaving HIV drug Daraprim and raised the price from $13.50 a pill to $750. According to a 2015 NBC News article, he was then the head of Turing Pharmaceuticals and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals.
Before that, he was the manager of hedge fund MSMB Capital Management and chief executive of biopharmaceutical company Retrophin Inc. Martin was being charged for illegally using Retrophin assets to pay off debts after MSMB lost millions of dollars. The indictment stated Martin and Evan Greebel, who was Retrophin's outside counsel, along with others, orchestrated three interrelated fraud schemes from September 2009 through September 2014.
The 2018 NPR article states that Martin was found guilty on two counts of securities fraud for duping hedge fund investors in MSMB Capital Management and MSMB Healthcare about the financial performance of the two companies that he operated. And he was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud for manipulating stock shares of Retrophin, a pharmaceutical company he created. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Also, according to The New York Times, he was among a group of investors ordered by a New York judge to pay $2.3 million to Lehman Brothers to cover a losing bet on the markets in 2007.
According to CNBC, he made an emotional plea for leniency. He had said, “The one person to blame for me being here today is me. This is my fault. I am no victim here.” Giving a message to the investors, he said, " I am terribly sorry I lost your trust. ... You deserve far better. I was never motivated by money. I wanted to grow my stature and my reputation. I am here because of my gross, stupid and negligent mistakes I made.”
In May 2020, US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto denied his appeal to be released from prison so he can work on a coronavirus treatment. "The court does not find that releasing Mr Shkreli will protect the public, even though Mr Shkreli seeks to leverage his experience with pharmaceuticals to help develop a cure for Covid-19 that he would purportedly provide at no cost," Matsumoto wrote in a nine-page ruling.
These remarks were made by third-person and individual organizations, MEAWW cannot confirm them independently nor does it support these claims. The respective references are linked in the article