Martin Shkreli

Martin Shkreli is a pharmaceutical executive best known for his role as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, where he orchestrated a dramatic price increase of the drug Daraprim (pyrimethamine) from $13.50 to $750 per pill in 2015, sparking international outrage and congressional scrutiny. The incident became a flashpoint in debates over pharmaceutical pricing, drug access, and corporate ethics in the healthcare industry.

Shkreli founded Turing Pharmaceuticals in 2014 after previous ventures in hedge funds and biotech. Beyond the Daraprim controversy, he became known for provocative social media behavior, including purchasing the only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" for $2 million. In 2015, he was arrested on federal charges related to securities fraud and wire fraud stemming from his management of hedge funds; he was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to seven years in prison. His case exemplifies concerns about regulatory gaps in pharmaceutical pricing and the intersection of corporate malfeasance with public health.

Martin Shkreli is a pharmaceutical executive and entrepreneur whose 2015 decision to raise the price of Daraprim by over 5,000% made him a symbol of corporate greed and pharmaceutical industry malfeasance. After founding Turing Pharmaceuticals, he was convicted of securities fraud in 2017 and imprisoned, becoming a cautionary case in debates over drug pricing regulation and corporate ethics.