PleasrDAO members are, well, pretty thehappy with Martin Shkreli.
The “digital autonomous organization” spent $4.75 million to buy the legendary Wu-Tang Clan album Once upon a time in Shaolinof which only a single copy was produced. The album once belonged to Shkreli, who bought it directly from the Wu-Tang Clan in 2015 for $2 million. But after becoming the “Pharma Bros” poster child for price gouging in the drug sector, Shkreli got into serious legal trouble and served a seven-year prison sentence for securities fraud.
He also had to pay a fine of $7.4 million in this case, and the government seized and sold Once upon a time in Shaolin to help pay the bill.
The album was truly “unique” – a protest against the devaluation of music in the digital age and a fascinating curiosity that instantly made its owners “interesting people”. The album was released as a two-CD set in a nickel and silver box bearing the Wu-Tang logo, and the complete package included a pair of custom-made speakers and a 174-page leather book with song lyrics and “production anecdotes”.
In a complicated transaction, PleasrDAO bought the album from an unnamed intermediary who had initially purchased it from the government. As part of that deal, PleasrDAO created a non-fungible token (NFTs – remember those?) to prove ownership of the album. The New York Times has a good description of what this entailed:
Make copies …
But after PleasrDAO purchased the album and shared collective ownership of its NFT, the company discovered that its “unique” item wasn’t quite as exclusive as it had thought.
Shkreli had actually made copies of the music. Lots of copies. On June 30, 2022, PleasrDAO said that Shkreli played music from the album on his YouTube channel, stating, “Of course I made MP3 copies, they’re like hidden in safes all over the world… I’m not stupid. I’m not buying anything for $2 million just so I can keep a copy.”
Shkreli began taunting PleasrDAO members about the album, telling one of them, “I literally play it on my Discord all the time, you’re an idiot.” He also claimed that PleasrDAO was worried about an album that “>5000 people have.” Shkreli claimed in a 2024 podcast that he “burned the album and sent it to like 50 different girls” – and that it had been extremely good for his sex life.
Shkreli even offered to send copies of the album to random internet commenters if they just sent him their “email address.” He also told people to “look for a torrent” and hosted listening parties for the album on his X account, reaching “potentially over 4,900 listeners.”
We know all these details because PleasrDAO sued Shkreli, claiming he is violating the asset seizure order and misappropriating “trade secrets” under New York law.
