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Pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli, widely pilloried for jacking up the price of a drug used to treat AIDS patients, now faces federal criminal charges.
The charges do not relate to Turing Pharmaceuticals, the company that raised the price of the drug Daraprim by more than 5,000%.
Instead, the federal case centers on his time as CEO of Retrophin (RTRX), another biotech company that ousted him last year. Details of the charges are to be disclosed at a noon press conference by Robert Capers, the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn.
Retrophin has since sued Shkreli in federal court, seeking $65 million from him, accusing him of misusing the company's cash and stock. He has denied those charges. Bloomberg and Reuters reported that Shkreli was arrested Thursday at his home in New York. Reuters said it had "witnessed" the arrest.
An attorney who represented Shkreli in a previous civil lawsuit did not return calls seeking comment. A call to Shkreli's office line went unanswered.
Turing, which Shkreli started after leaving Retrophin, is privately held.
But Shkreli recently bought a majority of the shares and become CEO of another small publicly-trade drug company, KaloBios (KBIO), which develops cancer drugs.
Shkreli's takeover of the firm sent shares soaring 400% on the first day after the news, and shares had since more than doubled in value. But they plunged 50% in premarket trading Thursday before trading was halted on reports of his arrest.
Shkreli had run a group of hedge funds, the MSMB Funds, before he started Retrophin in 2011.
In Retrophin's lawsuit against Shkreli, it charged he used Retrophin's assets, including shares of its stock, "to enrich himself, and to pay off claims of MSMB investors (who he had defrauded)." The suit says that the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into MSMB and Shkreli in 2012.
The drug price hike instituted by Shkreli at Turing brought widespread criticism in the media, which dubbed him "the most hated man in America," as well as by politicians.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called him a "poster child of greed," and refused to keep a $2,700 contribution Shkreli made to his campaign. But he also refused to return the money, giving it to a community health center instead
Pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli, widely pilloried for jacking up the price of a drug used to treat AIDS patients, now faces federal criminal charges.
The charges do not relate to Turing Pharmaceuticals, the company that raised the price of the drug Daraprim by more than 5,000%.
Instead, the federal case centers on his time as CEO of Retrophin (RTRX), another biotech company that ousted him last year. Details of the charges are to be disclosed at a noon press conference by Robert Capers, the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn.
Retrophin has since sued Shkreli in federal court, seeking $65 million from him, accusing him of misusing the company's cash and stock. He has denied those charges. Bloomberg and Reuters reported that Shkreli was arrested Thursday at his home in New York. Reuters said it had "witnessed" the arrest.
An attorney who represented Shkreli in a previous civil lawsuit did not return calls seeking comment. A call to Shkreli's office line went unanswered.
Turing, which Shkreli started after leaving Retrophin, is privately held.
But Shkreli recently bought a majority of the shares and become CEO of another small publicly-trade drug company, KaloBios (KBIO), which develops cancer drugs.
Shkreli's takeover of the firm sent shares soaring 400% on the first day after the news, and shares had since more than doubled in value. But they plunged 50% in premarket trading Thursday before trading was halted on reports of his arrest.
Shkreli had run a group of hedge funds, the MSMB Funds, before he started Retrophin in 2011.
In Retrophin's lawsuit against Shkreli, it charged he used Retrophin's assets, including shares of its stock, "to enrich himself, and to pay off claims of MSMB investors (who he had defrauded)." The suit says that the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into MSMB and Shkreli in 2012.
The drug price hike instituted by Shkreli at Turing brought widespread criticism in the media, which dubbed him "the most hated man in America," as well as by politicians.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called him a "poster child of greed," and refused to keep a $2,700 contribution Shkreli made to his campaign. But he also refused to return the money, giving it to a community health center instead
YES! This guy is the scum of the earth & a perversion of this country's capitalist dream. Now let's just hope that he can give up that exclusive Wu-Tang Clan album he bought for millions.
People like this need to be in jail. They exploit capitalism and take advantage of people for their own personal gain. I hope he gets locked up for a long time and ends up being some big scary dude's bi*ch.
A few weeks ago the Sunday NYT did a profile of Martin Shkreli. Leaving aside what some may consider questionable business ethics in regards to Daraprim, the man is really the typical immigrant "rags to riches" story.
Mr. Shkreli's family immigrated to New York from Albania when he was a young child (IIRC). A rather lack luster student but never the less the kid won admission to the prestigious Hunter College high school. However he was later expelled for poor academic performance. Afterwards the young Mr. Shkreli bounced around finally got his HS diploma and went to Baruch college where he took a business degree.
The rest as they say is history. The guy is obviously very intelligent, even his most ardent detractors (and there are many now) do not dispute that fact. He has made tens of millions via his investments/hedge funds but now suppose his methods are under question.
As for Mr. Shkreli "abusing" capitalism, I don't know about that. Look at the history of Carnegie, Frick, Gould, and countless others since who have made vast fortunes in business. Buying something to gain near monopoly control then jacking up the price is *NOT* new. In the most egregious cases such as railroads, telephone communications and so forth the federal government stepped in and busted things up.
The USA however unlike Europe does not have any sort of drug pricing regulation laws. Persons may dislike Mr. Shkreli for jacking up the price of that medication but in reality the big pharma companies do the same all the time. Just look at Gilead Sciences and their Hepatitis C wonder drug for a start.
I'm glad he got some karmic justice served to him but I sincerely doubt he does 15 years. He'll probably do half of that.
There has to be a conviction first. This guy will be lawyered up with the best money can buy. As the guy said in the Sopranos when arrested during a funeral "I'll be home before my dinner gets cold"....
YES! This guy is the scum of the earth & a perversion of this country's capitalist dream. Now let's just hope that he can give up that exclusive Wu-Tang Clan album he bought for millions.
i was reading in a wutang forum that the contract has a silly clause; something alone the lines of: if the wu can successfully steal the record back then the contract is terminated.
A few weeks ago the Sunday NYT did a profile of Martin Shkreli. Leaving aside what some may consider questionable business ethics in regards to Daraprim, the man is really the typical immigrant "rags to riches" story.
Mr. Shkreli's family immigrated to New York from Albania when he was a young child (IIRC). A rather lack luster student but never the less the kid won admission to the prestigious Hunter College high school. However he was later expelled for poor academic performance. Afterwards the young Mr. Shkreli bounced around finally got his HS diploma and went to Baruch college where he took a business degree.
7
The rest as they say is history. The guy is obviously very intelligent, even his most ardent detractors (and there are many now) do not dispute that fact. He has made hundreds of millions via his investments/hedge funds but now suppose his methods are under question.
As for Mr. Shkreli "abusing" capitalism, I don't know about that. Look at the history of Carnegie, Frick, Gould, and countless others since who have made vast fortunes in business. Buying something to gain near monopoly control then jacking up the price is *NOT* new. In the most egregious cases such as railroads, telephone communications and so forth the federal government stepped in and busted things up.
The USA however unlike Europe does not have any sort of drug pricing regulation laws. Persons may dislike Mr. Shkreli for jacking up the price of that medication but in reality the big pharma companies do the same all the time. Just look at Gilead Sciences and their Hepatitis C wonder drug for a start.
Please save your sympathy for other more deserving individuals like that Chinese professor of physics at Temple. This Martin sh-r-it guy could have been left back in Alabania unexposed to the devastating capitalism tools that some Americans have developed. When such tools fall into the wrong hands such as those of shrit, the damages to other members of the society is enormous. The rag-rich morale of the nyt story was probably bot by shrit's robbed money in the first place. He is a thug in the finance world and should be regarded as a thug accordingly, no matter how much money he has made. The danger and disruptions he poses are much more serious than those uneducated violent street thugs. His company did not even develop the drug. He simply took advantage of the holes in the regulatory system to bleed patients already at danger. I am not sure if his money will save him this time because his ruthless greed has set him up as a clear target of many influential figures across all disciplines. When ppl overseas talk about his story, they will shake their head at the culture that this guy represents. He is a disgrace to the country and probably should be deported back to albania for such uncontrolled cruelty. ..
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