U.S. government sells one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album to pay off Martin Shkreli's debt

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 28 July 2021

Wu-Tang isn't just for the children — it's also for the filthy rich.

In 2015, former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli purchased at auction the sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin for $2 million. Shkreli, who earned the nickname "Pharma Bro" after he hiked the price of an anti-parasitic drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill, had to forfeit the album in 2017, after he was convicted of securities fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison.

On Tuesday, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn announced that Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was sold for an undisclosed price to an anonymous buyer, and the proceeds will be applied to the nearly $7.4 million Shkreli owes in forfeiture, ABC News reports. The album also comes with a hand-carved nickel-silver box and a leather-bound book with the lyrics and a certificate of authenticity. The buyer is represented by attorney Peter Scoolidge, who told ABC News "this was the most interesting deal I have ever worked on."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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