The former pharmaceutical executive has started an auction, which has reached nearly $1 million with more than 300 people placing the bids.
- Sep 7, 2017
AceShowbiz - Back in 2015, former pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli purchased Wu-Tang Clan's unreleased album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" for $2 million. And now, he is apparently trying to get rid of it. He started an auction on eBay, which has already reached nearly $1 million in a day. With eight days left remaining to bid, Martin claimed he might cancel the auction at any time or even "break the album in frustration."
The description of the sale read, "This is the one and only Wu-Tang album. I decided to purchase this album as a gift to the Wu-Tang Clan for their tremendous musical output. Instead I received scorn from at least one of their (least-intelligent) members, and the world at large failed to see my purpose of putting a serious value behind music." It continued, "I will be curious to see if the world values music nearly as much as I have. I have donated to many rock bands and rappers over the years to ensure they can continue to produce their art when few others would."
He also shared that he would donate half of the proceeds to "medical research," writing, "I will donate half of the sale proceeds to medical research. I am not selling to raise cash--my companies and I have record amounts of cash on hand. I hope someone with a bigger heart for music can be found for this one-of-a-kind piece and makes it available for the world to hear."
A few years ago, Martin made headlines when he effectively raised the price of AIDS drug by more than $700. A couple of months after he outbid everyone at an auction for Wu-Tang Clan's "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin", he was involved in a nasty feud with one of the group's members, Ghostface Killah. The rapper blasted Martin as a fake "a** super villain." During this time, Martin angered fans by sharing snippets of the unreleased project despite being ordered not to play the album for 88 years.
Last year, Martin ultimately became the most-hated man in hip-hop after he claimed that he was in possession of Lil Wayne's long-awaited album "Tha Carter V". His action unsurprisingly infuriated Wayne and his team. However, he was not sued by the rapper or his label after he promised that he wouldn't do it again.
The NYC billionaire broke his promise earlier this year, though. He previewed two tracks off the highly-anticipated set. One of the tracks is Lil Wayne's collaboration with Kendrick Lamar titled "Mona Lisa", while the other is called "The Life of Carter".
