Martin Shkreli Net Worth: How Rich Is Notorious ‘Pharma Bro’ Before Trial?

UPDATE: 2:41 p.m. EDT - A verdict was handed down Friday in the case of notorious "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli. Shkreli was found guilty on three counts including two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Shkreli was found not guilty on another five counts.

Original story:

Ex-pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli was set to begin his trial Monday for leading what prosecutors allege was a “Ponzi-like” scheme during his time leading both a hedge fund and a drug company. Notoriously known as the “Pharma-bro” for his antics, Shkreli has repeatedly made headlines for his controversial behavior.

After being arrested in December 2015, Shkreli posted bond of $5 million to secure his release. During a hearing last week, however, Shkreli attempted to get his bail reduced by $3 million, citing taxes and legal fees. Prosecutors denied the request, pointing to Shkreli’s repeated high-profile bragging about his exponential riches.

Read: Martin Shkreli Faces 20 Years Behind Bars

Shrekli dropped $2 million in 2015 to purchase the only existing copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album “Once Upon A Time In Shaolin.” The next year, he purchased an unreleased Lil Wayne album for an undisclosed but presumably considerable amount of money, flaunting his wealth on social media.

“When you’re as handsome, good looking, smart and wealthy as me, things like this just fall into your lap,” Shkreli said in an announcement streamed live on the Periscope social media app. “Your boy just bought it.”

In other aggressively public shows of wealth, Shkreli offered $40,000 to a Princeton University student who was able to solve a mathematical proof and pledged $100,000 to anyone who could offer information leading to the arrest of the person who killed former Democratic National Committee employee Seth Rich.

Fortune pinned Shkreli’s wealth in January 2016 at about $45 million, based off assets in his E*Trade account.

“While Shkreli may have other financial accounts and assets outside of E*Trade, the $45 million figure offers the best baseline yet for just how much the 32-year-old disgraced pharmaceutical executive has in the bank,” Fortune reported. “Though his actual net worth could be much higher.”

Shkreli first became infamous for jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug during his time as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals: the price of a single pill of anti-parasitic drug Daraprim was raised from $13.50 to $750. His arrest, however, had nothing to do with the pill’s exorbitance price increase but instead, alleged illegal practices during his time at both a pharmaceutical company and his hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management.

Prosecutors alleged Shkreli cheated his investors out of more than $11 million between 2009 and 2014, lying to investors and stealing millions of dollars from pharmaceutical company Retrophin Inc. to pay for his misdealing. If convicted, Shkreli could face 20 years behind bars.

The entrepreneur, however, has adamantly maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty.

“I’m so innocent, the jury, judge and the prosecution are gonna give me an apology,” Shkreli said recently, according to a New York Times report citing since-deleted live streams.

In an official statement issued shortly after he posted bail, Shkreli denied the charges.

“It is no coincidence that these charges, the results of investigations which have been languishing for considerable time, have been filed at the same time of Shkreli’s high-profile, controversial and yet unrelated activities,” the statement read. “At a press conference, the government suggested that Mr. Shkreli was involved in a Ponzi scheme. Ponzi victims do not make money, yet Mr. Shkreli’s investors enjoyed strong results. In summary, Mr. Shkreli expects to be fully vindicated.”

SaveSave