Martin Shkreli, infamously known as “Pharma Bro,” is embroiled in a new legal battle over the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” The lawsuit, filed by the cryptocurrency collective PleasrDAO, accuses Shkreli of retaining and sharing digital copies of the album, which he was compelled to sell following his 2017 securities fraud conviction.
PleasrDAO, which purchased the album for $4.75 million, claims Shkreli violated their agreement by keeping digital copies and disseminating them. The collective points to Shkreli’s social media boasts about sharing the album with “thousands of people.” Over the weekend, Shkreli hosted a livestream on X, where he played portions of the album, dubbing it a “Wu-Tang official listening party.”
Shkreli has not responded to requests for comment. The lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn federal court, marks another twist in the saga of an album created to protest the devaluation of music in the streaming era. The Wu-Tang Clan auctioned the album in 2015, and Shkreli, notorious for hiking the price of a life-saving drug, bought it for $2 million.
Following his conviction, Shkreli was forced to sell the album, which came in a handcrafted silver and nickel case with a 174-page leather-bound book. PleasrDAO acquired the physical copy and digital rights in transactions completed in 2021 and 2024. They believed Shkreli had destroyed all digital traces of the album.
The lawsuit argues that public dissemination of the album’s music diminishes its value and damages PleasrDAO’s reputation and commercial prospects. The album is currently headed to Australia’s Museum of Old and New Art, which plans to host private listening sessions featuring select tracks.
Shkreli’s actions, including livestreaming the album and sharing it on social media, violate the forfeiture order and amount to misappropriation of trade secrets, according to the complaint. PleasrDAO seeks to have Shkreli destroy his copies, turn over any profits from disseminating the music, and pay compensatory and punitive damages.
Shkreli, who gained notoriety as “Pharma Bro” for raising the price of the antiparasitic drug Daraprim from $17.50 to $750 per tablet, was released early from his seven-year prison sentence but remains on supervised release. He was banned from the pharmaceutical industry in January 2022 and ordered to repay $64.6 million for antitrust violations related to Daraprim.
The case, PleasrDAO v. Shkreli, is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. PleasrDAO’s lawsuit comes just before the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania opens an exhibition featuring the album. The museum will hold free, ticketed listening sessions from June 15 to 24, allowing the public to hear a curated 30-minute mix of the album.
Shkreli’s legal troubles began in 2018 when he was convicted of securities fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison. His strategy of raising drug prices forced many patients and physicians to make difficult treatment decisions. In January 2022, a judge ordered him to repay $64.6 million in profits from his scheme and banned him from the pharmaceutical industry for life.
The Wu-Tang Clan album, housed in a handcrafted silver box by British-Moroccan artist Yahya, was sold to an anonymous buyer by the United States government. The sale price was confidential, but it marked the completion of Shkreli’s $7.4 million forfeiture judgment. Shkreli had purchased the 31-track album at auction in 2015 for $2 million, promoting it as a unique work of art with no physical or digital duplicate.
The album, recorded in secret between 2006 and 2013, includes appearances from the wider Wu-Tang family. It was designed as a statement on the devaluation of music in the streaming era, with the band aiming for a “400-year-old Renaissance-style approach to music.” The only confirmed public playing of the album was at a 2015 event at New York’s MoMA.
Shkreli’s alleged actions, including livestreaming the album and sharing it on social media, have sparked outrage and legal action. PleasrDAO’s lawsuit seeks to hold Shkreli accountable for violating their agreement and the forfeiture order, aiming to protect the album’s value and their investment.
