Martin Shkreli Is Now Selling the $2 Million Wu-Tang Album on eBay
Martin Shkreli appears to be trying to unload the singular copy of Wu-Tang Clan's 2015 album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin on eBay. The rarity is currently going for $75,300. According to the Daily Beast, Shkreli kicked off the bidding war with a starting price of $1. Shkreli famously purchased the album for $2 million.
"This is the one and only Wu-Tang album," eBay user martishkrel_7 says in the listing's description. "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. 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."
Shkreli also warns that he can cancel the sale "at any time" and/or "break this album in frustration." Half of the proceeds, Shkreli says, will go toward "medical research" of some kind. "I am not selling to raise cash," Shkreli adds. "My companies and I have record amounts of cash on hand."
Shkreli was convicted last month on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy, meaning the other five conspiracy accounts against him resulted in acquittals. Though the idea of a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison has been tossed around in subsequent headlines, Reuters' initial report on the conviction noted that defendants "rarely" receive such a lengthy sentence.
"This was a witch hunt of epic proportions, and maybe they found one or two broomsticks, but at the end of the day, we've been acquitted of the most important charges," Shkreli later told reporters.