MARTIN SHKRELI
The "Pharma Bro" who raised a drug price 5,000% and went to prison for securities fraud
Raised the price of a life-saving drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill, became the most hated man in America, smirked through a Congressional hearing, bought the only copy of a Wu-Tang Clan album for $2 million, and then went to federal prison for securities fraud — not for the drug pricing. The irony is that his actual investment returns were impressive. His hedge fund investors made money. He just happened to commit fraud along the way. The internet's favorite villain turned out to be both smart and criminal.
Net Worth
$70 million
Nationality
American
Time Horizon
Medium-Term
Risk Appetite
9 / 10
CAREER & BACKGROUND
Born in 1983 in Brooklyn to Albanian and Croatian immigrant parents. Started interning at Jim Cramer's hedge fund at age 17 while still in high school.
Founded his first hedge fund, Elea Capital, at 23.
Founded MSMB Capital Management in 2009. The fund made aggressive bets on pharmaceutical stocks and short positions.
He also started Retrophin, a pharmaceutical company, in 2011 — focused on acquiring drugs for rare diseases and raising prices.
The Daraprim price hike in 2015 made him globally infamous. He raised the price of Daraprim (used to treat parasitic infections, critical for AIDS patients) from $13.50 to $750 per pill after acquiring the rights through Turing Pharmaceuticals.
The backlash was immediate and ferocious — Congressional hearings, media firestorm, and universal condemnation.
COMPANIES & ROLES
MSMB Capital Management was his hedge fund. Retrophin was his first pharma company — he was eventually fired by its board.
Turing Pharmaceuticals (later renamed Vyera) was the company behind the Daraprim price hike.
Shkreli was convicted in 2017 of securities fraud related to MSMB Capital — not the drug pricing. He had lied to investors about fund losses and used Retrophin stock to pay back investors.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison and served five.
After prison, he was released in 2022 and immediately returned to public life — streaming on YouTube, launching a blockchain drug discovery platform called Druglike, and remaining as controversial as ever.
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Shkreli is a pharmaceutical event-driven investor. His strategy: find drugs for small patient populations with no generic competition, acquire the rights, raise prices, and capture monopolistic profit.
It's legal. It's also morally repugnant to most people.
As a hedge fund manager, he made concentrated bets on biotech stocks, often taking activist positions. His research was genuinely deep — he understood the FDA approval process, patent law, and drug pipelines at an expert level.
His post-prison pivot to blockchain-based drug discovery (Druglike) suggests he's trying to channel his pharmaceutical knowledge into something less villainous.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
Extremely high. Shkreli shorted stocks based on his pharmaceutical analysis, took concentrated biotech positions, and made leveraged bets.
He also committed securities fraud to cover losses, which is the ultimate form of risk-taking.
He was willing to become the most hated person in America for a pharmaceutical pricing strategy. That's either extreme risk tolerance or extreme indifference to consequences.
Money Habits
Before prison, he lived a relatively modest life for someone in finance. His most famous purchase was the Wu-Tang Clan's one-of-a-kind album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" for $2 million.
It was later forfeited to pay his $7.4 million court penalty.
His post-prison lifestyle is lower-key. He streams on YouTube, discusses pharma stocks, and works on his blockchain drug discovery project.
BIGGEST WIN
His hedge fund returns. Despite the fraud charges, Shkreli's investors at MSMB Capital actually made money.
He lied about losses during a bad period but eventually made the money back through Retrophin shares. Some investors testified at his trial that they had profited.
The fraud was real, but the underlying investment skill was also real.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
Everything about Daraprim. The 5,000% price hike turned him into the most hated person in America, triggered Congressional investigations into pharmaceutical pricing, and made "pharma bro" a permanent entry in the cultural vocabulary.
He was fired from Retrophin, arrested for securities fraud, and became a cautionary tale about what happens when Wall Street arrogance meets public health. The drug pricing was legal.
The consequences were not worth it.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
Shkreli's philosophy — stripped of the trolling — is that pharmaceutical markets are inefficient and that drugs for small patient populations are chronically underpriced. Insurers absorb the cost.
Patients get assistance programs. The economic argument is coherent even if the ethics are repulsive.
He also believes the pharmaceutical industry is corrupt and that he was singled out for doing openly what every drug company does quietly. There's truth in that argument — pharmaceutical price increases happen constantly.
He just did it loudly and with a smirk.
On investing: deep fundamental research in biotech can generate enormous returns because most investors don't understand the science.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Very private about personal life. He was married briefly.
Has a child born while he was in prison. His public persona is entirely the "Pharma Bro" character — confrontational, trolling, and unapologetic.
EDUCATION
Grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Working-class family — parents were Albanian and Croatian immigrants who worked as janitors.
Attended Hunter College High School (competitive public school) and then Baruch College. No Ivy League pedigree.
He got into finance through raw hustle and intelligence.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
Covers the insider trading culture on Wall Street
The healthcare fraud genre that parallels Shkreli's story. Shkreli's own YouTube streams on investing and pharmaceuticals provide unfiltered insight into his thinking — controversial but undeniably educational
As an Amazon Associate, Netfigo earns from qualifying purchases. Book links above may be affiliate links.
QUOTES (6)
I would have raised the price higher. That's probably what I would have done. I think health care prices are inelastic.
I'm not the villain. I'm the guy who did openly what every pharmaceutical company does quietly.
My investors made money. Every single one of them. That should matter more than the headlines.
The best biotech investments come from understanding the science better than Wall Street does.
I grew up in Brooklyn. My parents were janitors. I got into finance by being smarter and working harder than everyone around me.
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