The facts
The Federal Trade Commission and seven states have asked a federal judge to hold Martin Shkreli in contempt, alleging he has repeatedly violated a 2022 court order that banned him from the pharmaceutical industry for life. According to a motion and brief filed by the FTC and its state co-plaintiffs, Shkreli has been violating the order since his release from prison in May 2022. The allegations state that he has publicly traded in pharmaceutical industry stocks and broadcast his opinions about the business and management of numerous pharmaceutical companies. Daniel Guarnera, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, stated that the FTC will enforce violations of court orders. The FTC initiated the case against Shkreli in January 2020. In 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Shkreli organized an illegal anticompetitive scheme related to the drug Daraprim, which prevented generic competition and allowed for price increases. The court found Shkreli’s conduct warranted an industry ban and ordered him to disgorge over $64 million. The joint motion cites at least 60 companies whose stocks Shkreli has traded and details his online broadcasts where he discussed trading and investing in biotech. The FTC and states are seeking an order to show cause why Shkreli should not be held in civil contempt and for civil sanctions to compel compliance with the 2022 injunction.
Our take
Oh, for fuck's sake. Of course the little shit couldn't help himself. Martin Shkreli, the human embodiment of a smug, self-satisfied asshole who got caught with his hand in the pharmaceutical cookie jar, is now allegedly getting his grubby fingers all over the stock market he's legally forbidden from touching. The FTC and a posse of pissed-off states have gone to a judge to say this prick has been violating his lifetime ban from the pharma industry since the fucking day he got out of prison. The ban was for organizing a scheme to jack up the price of a life-saving drug and block competition, because he's a greedy cunt. The punishment was supposed to be him fucking off forever. But no.
This dickhead apparently thinks the rules are for other people. The motion says he's traded stocks in at least sixty different pharmaceutical companies. Sixty! He didn't just dip a toe in; he did a cannonball into the pool of securities he's legally barred from swimming in. And he couldn't just do it quietly, like a normal, shame-faced convict trying to keep a low profile. Oh no. That would require a shred of self-awareness this bastard clearly lacks. He had to broadcast his opinions about the business and management of these companies online. He had to run his mouth. Because his most prized possession, more valuable than any ill-gotten drug profit, is his own fucking voice.
It's the sheer, brazen vanity of it. He was ordered to disgorge over $64 million and get the hell out of an entire industry. The court basically said, 'You are a toxic presence here, and you need to leave.' His response? To hang around the digital street corner, loudly giving stock tips and trading advice about the very neighborhood he's been evicted from. It's like a restaurant health inspector being banned from the food service industry for putting rat poison in the soup, then immediately setting up a YouTube channel called 'Soup Reviewz with Rat Poison Guy.' The lack of shame is fucking breathtaking.
Daniel Guarnera from the FTC's competition bureau said they'll enforce court orders. Good. Throw the book at this clown. Then throw the whole fucking library. The motion asks for a contempt order and sanctions to make him comply. Here's a sanction: confiscate his keyboard and his brokerage login. Wrap him in bubble wrap and mail him to a remote island with no internet. The man is a regulatory hazard, a walking, talking violation waiting to happen. His entire public persona is built on being a contrarian prick who thinks he's smarter than everyone, including federal judges. Well, let's see how smart he feels when the court slams the gavel on his entitled, trading-fingered hands. What an absolute, unrepentant cunt.
