Martin Shkreli, the infamous “pharma bro” convicted of securities fraud, was ordered on Monday to surrender the single-edition Wu-Tang Clan album he purchased and is prohibited from copying or selling it.
In New York, Judge Pamela K. Chen granted a restraining order against Shkreli, prohibiting him from “possessing, using, disseminating or selling any interest in the Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” including all music, data and artwork associated with it.
The order is the latest twist in the long-running ownership saga surrounding the album, the subject of an ongoing lawsuit between Shkreli and PleasrDAO, a group of NFT art collectors who purchased control of the album between 2021 and 2024.
The group alleges that Shkreli had made copies of the album, intending for its owner to listen to them on a one-time basis, and “intends to release them to the public,” according to the lawsuit.
Shkreli’s attorney, Edward Paltzik, said in a statement to the media that “this order is merely a preliminary measure issued by the Court to maintain the perceived status quo before any discovery occurs; the order has no bearing on the ultimate outcome of the case.”
Shkreli gained worldwide notoriety as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, which radically raised the price of the drug Daraprim, used by AIDS patients, from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill.
In 2015, Shkreli paid $2 million to purchase “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” an album the acclaimed New York hip-hop group released as a single-copy, double-CD edition in a custom nickel-plated case and leather-bound liner notes, with no other physical or streaming release.
Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy for his actions as CEO of the biotech company Retrophin, and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2018. Funds from the sale of “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” were supposed to help pay a $750,000 fine and $7.4 million in asset forfeiture as part of his sentence.
However, Shkreli has boasted about keeping digital copies of the music: “LOL I got the mp3s, moron,” he once wrote on X.
Under the order, Shkreli must turn over all copies of the album to his lawyers by Friday and disclose all duplicate copies, who he gave them to and whether he made any money from their sale.
Steven Cooper, PleasrDAO’s attorney, said in a statement to the media that “we are pleased that Judge Chen recognized that immediate relief was necessary to thwart Mr. Shrkeli’s continued wrongdoing.”
