What’s Happened to “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli Since He Went to Prison
"Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli hiked the price of a drug by 5,000 percent and was convicted of securities fraud. What happened after that?
June 28 2022, Published 11:54 a.m. ET
Martin Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager and pharmaceutical executive, served time in prison for securities fraud. The “Pharma Bro” was the head of Turing Pharmaceuticals, which raised the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent. What happened to Shkreli following his early release from prison?
The Bureau of Federal Prisons told NPR that Shkreli was released in May 2022 from prison, but he was not fully released to independent living. Instead, Shkreli will spend several months in community confinement, also known as a halfway house. He's expected to be there until mid-September.
Shkreli with his attorney Benjamin Brafman in 2017, during his trial.
Martin Shkreli made millions as a hedge fund manager
Shkreli got early experience with hedge funds, having been selected for an internship at age 17. He worked for Cramer, Berkowitz & Co., where he recommended a short sale of Regeneron and saw a huge profit. He even gained the SEC’s attention for his recommendations.
Shkreli co-founded hedge funds to become quite wealthy, and in 2006, he launched his first, Elea Capital. He also started MSMB Capital Management.
Martin Shkreli founded and ran two pharmaceutical companies
In addition to working with hedge funds, Shkreli was a co-founder and CEO of two pharmaceutical companies prior to his incarceration. He was part of the founding teams of both Retrophin and Turing Pharmaceuticals.
Turing Pharmaceuticals (which has changed to Vyera Pharmaceuticals in light of negative publicity) became infamous when Shkreli increased the price of a life-saving antiparasitic drug, Daraprim. The price for the medication commonly used by patients with AIDS and other immunosuppressive conditions was raised from $13.50 per dose to $750.
Shkreli has been banned from the pharmaceutical industry for life. In Jan. 2022, a judge also ordered him to return $64.6 million in profits gained through the drug price hike. However, the price hike was not the reason for his incarceration.
Martin Shkreli was convicted of fraud—where is he now?
In 2017, Shkreli faced trial and was found guilty of two counts of securities fraud as well as one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The next year, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. Shkreli also had to forfeit the $7.4 million made through fraudulent activity. Shkreli was held in a low-security federal correctional institution in Allenwood, Pa., until his May transfer to a halfway house.
Shkreli said that “getting out of real prison is easier than getting out of Twitter prison”
Due to harassment of a female journalist in 2017, Shkreli is banned from using Twitter, reports CNBC. He posted on his Facebook page in May 2022 that “getting out of real prison is easier than getting out of Twitter prison.”
For good behavior and completing educational and rehabilitative programs in prison, the convicted fraudster was released just over four years after his sentencing.
The spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said that Shkreli was now in community confinement, meaning “the inmate is either in home confinement or a Residential Reentry Center (RRC, or halfway house).” The type of community confinement Shkreli is participating in wasn't specified, but his expected date of release is Sept. 14.