Drug Price Gouging CEO Arrested on Securities Fraud Charges
We all remember the day it happened because before that moment we hadn’t ever heard of this “young man”; the day that Martin Shkreli, 32, raised the price of a life-saving pill called Daraprim- (the preferred treatment for a parasitic condition known as toxoplasmosis, which can be deadly for unborn babies and patients with compromised immune systems including those with HIV or cancer) from $13.50 to $750- the world drew a sad, collective sigh. In the days after, as he made mainstream news rounds trying to clean up the mess he’d made and justify his actions at the same time, many people just saw him as a criminal.
Karma had the last laugh early this morning. Not only was Shkreli arrested in his home in Manhattan by federal agents, accused of securities fraud related to a firm he founded, but the man who has become a symbol of “defiant greed” has also lost his job. In a statement the company said it was replacing him as CEO, “because of serious concern about his conduct”.
From the article:
In the case that closely tracks that suit, federal prosecutors accused Shkreli of engaging in a complicated shell game after his defunct hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, lost millions. He is alleged to have made secret payoffs and set up sham consulting arrangements. A New York lawyer, Evan Greebel, was also arrested early Thursday. He’s accused of conspiring with Shkreli in part of the scheme.
The son of immigrants from Albania and Croatia who worked as janitors and raised him in working-class Brooklyn, has taken the American Dream he so well symbolized and dirtied it. As a young drop out (of an elite Manhattan high school no less) he showed a lot of promise and began a conquest of Wall Street before the age of 20. However, in the process he made a lot of enemies too: Donald Trump called Shkreli a “spoiled brat,”, the BBC gave him the title of “most hated man in America.”, and Bernie Sanders rejected a $2,700 campaign contribution from him (choosing to donate the money to an HIV clinic).
While he initially said he would lower the Daraprim price he later changed his mind and became even more defiant. He even said if he had it to do all over again that he would, “…probably would have raised the price higher, my investors expect me to maximize profits.” It should be noted that Retrophin is cooperating with authorities and hasn’t been accused of any wrong doing.
Here’s part of the timeline from the Bloomberg article, on Shkreli’s incredible rise and fall:
Source: Bloomberg News
