Martin Shkreli: The Downward Spiral of Fraud and Greed

Martin Shkreli, former CEO of a pharmaceutical company is known for buying up old drugs and immediately raising the price to consumers by as much as 5,000% overnight. He recently raised the price of one drug that treats a devastating infection in babies and people with AIDS from $13.50/pill to $750/pill. Mr. Shkreli has often spoken out against critics, and has become known as the “bad boy of pharmaceuticals,” portrayed by his excessive greed. On December 17^th, Mr. Shkreli was arrested for securities fraud and wire fraud charges, not because he raised prices so quickly in his current company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, but because of fraud he committed in two prior hedge funds and a previous biopharmaceutical company, Retrophin.

Mr. Shkreli lied to investors for both of his hedge funds while losing millions of dollars. He then paid them off by using funds from Retrophin without consent from the board of directors. Throughout the process, he and a partner fabricated consulting agreements so that external auditors would not be suspicious of the transactions taking place between Retrophin and the investors of the two hedge funds. This article from The New York Times and the video below (posted by the Associated Press) give more information about what Mr. Shkreli did and what he has been charged for.

Ponzi Schemes and Sophisticated Investors

So when you read about a small, $50 million dollar, Ponzi scheme coming to light, you almost always read about some gullible investors who had no idea they couldn't make 50% returns in a legitimate business deal. The list of victims was recruited from friends or family in an affinity fraud and almost always includes a bunch of doctors and dentists who have too much money and think they need a bunch more but don't understand risk and return. It is very rare that the so-called sophisticated investors who understand risk and return get duped. The following story was sent to me by a former student, Robert Madsen, who pointed out that this is what makes this story incredible...