Martin Shkreli ordered to hand over all unreleased copies of Wu-Tang Clan album | Martin Shkreli
Martin Shkreli, known as “Pharma Bro,” has been ordered by a federal judge to hand over all copies of Wu-Tang Clan’s unreleased and ultra-rare 2015 album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, and is prohibited from releasing any additional content from the album.
Wu-Tang Clan spent six years creating Once Upon a Time in Shaolin before auctioning off a single copy of the 31-track double album in 2015, on the condition that it not be released publicly. The multi-platinum hip-hop group wanted to treat it as a contemporary work of art.
Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical executive who became infamous after trying to skyrocket the price of a life-saving drug, bought the album for $2 million in 2015 but was forced to forfeit it after his 2021 securities fraud conviction for lying to investors and defrauding them out of millions of dollars. The album was later purchased by PleasrDAO, a cryptocurrency collective, for $4.75 million.
In June, PleasrDAO sued Shkreli, accusing him of retaining and distributing digital copies in violation of their agreement.
Brooklyn Judge Pamela K. Chen wrote that Shkreli must produce all copies of what is sometimes considered the world’s rarest album and report the names of everyone to whom he distributed the music before Sept. 30, as well as all income he made from it.
Steven Cooper, an attorney for PleasrDAO, called the ruling a “significant victory” in a statement, adding that the company was pleased that the judge “recognized that immediate relief was necessary to counter Mr. Shkreli’s ongoing wrongdoing.”
Edward Paltzik, Shkreli’s attorney, said in an email that the judge’s order maintained “the perceived status quo” of the trial’s progress and had “no bearing on the ultimate outcome of the case.”
He also noted that the judge did not find that PleasrDAO was likely to succeed on the merits or that its allegations were true.
In 2022, after being released from a seven-year prison sentence for fraud, Shkreli publicly bragged online that he still had a copy of the album, which he then released excerpts of to some of his followers on social media, according to the lawsuit filed against Shkreli. This was not the first time.
There is also footage online of him playing the record to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election.
The judge’s order prohibits him from “possessing, using, distributing or selling any interest in the album, including its data and files,” in addition to providing a detailed accounting of where copies are located and who has access to them, as well as any revenue he has received.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
