'Pharma bro' Martin Shkreli tries to buy Kanye's new album 'so it don't get released publicly'
Widely despised 'pharma bro' Martin Shkreli strikes again and this time, he's after Kanye West's new album The Life of Pablo. As if hiking the price of a cancer and HIV drug by 5,000 percent wasn't bad enough, Shkreli now wants to ensure that no one but him can listen to West's new album.
On Thursday — the day West debuted his album alongside his latest fashion line, Yeezy Season 3, at a Madison Square Garden event — Shkreli offered on Twitter to buy it for $10 million. Shkreli assured West and his partners that they will find this offer "more attractive" than their "current course of action."
aiyo @kanyewest last minute can i buy your album out so it dont get released publicly
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 11, 2016
Then, Shkreli contends, if he can't get his way, he could at least delay the rest of the world hearing The Life of Pablo "by a few days."
Kanye and his label are legally required to take my offer letter to their Board of Directors. This should delay the album by a few days.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 11, 2016
In his offer letter, Shkreli says that that he should own the album because he has "been a tremendous fan of [West's] music for many years." He cites West's album, The College Dropout, as integral to inspiring him to "succeed at a young age."
Shkreli is the sole owner Wu-Tang Clan's Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. He reportedly paid $2 million for the single existing copy of the album.