Martin Shkreli caught a massive wave of public criticism after it came out that he increased the price of a necessary HIV medication whose patent had expired by 5,500 percent. The drug, Daraprim, went from $13.50 per pill to $750! The CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, aka the Pharma Bro, has since tried to defend his decision, and improve his public image. However, these attempts have largely been in vein, as it appears Turing will continue its price gauging practices. So, it seems, Shkreli has taken another route to win over the public's approval. The hated pharmaceutical CEO says he will pay to bail rapper Bobby Shmurda out of jail, in an act of good will.
Last week it was announced the Shkreli was the purchaser of Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. RZA, the producer of the album and de facto leader of Wu-Tang Clan, said he was unhappy to learn this news, and made the deal before news of Shkreli's price gauging came to light. This insulted Shkreli a great deal, who replied, "If I hand you $2 million, f*cking show me some respect. At least have the decency to say nothing or 'no comment.'"
However, this was not the only hip-hop related investment the young entrepreneur made. He told HipHopDX, "We're actually in discussion to try to bail out Bobby Shmurda. Forget whether you think he's guilty or not, the guy should not be sitting in jail right now. It's insane. He's from Brooklyn. I'm from Brooklyn. He deserves a fair trial. He deserves good lawyers. He doesn't have good lawyers. His label is hanging him out to dry and so I have a conference call tomorrow morning with them (December 15). I'll show up with $2 million bail money no f***ing problem. He's not going to flee the country. I'm not going to lose anything. I'm going to try to make that happen. That's one thing I'm working on."
