Martin Shkreli, the disgraced former CEO of Phoenixus AG, is reportedly still running the business from his jail cell using a contraband cell phone. He was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy in 2017, and sentenced to 7 years in prison.
On one recent call, Shkreli reportedly called then CEO of Phoenixus AG Kevin Milady while Milady was on a Safari vacation to fire him. He later changed his mind and decided to suspend Milady rather than fire him.
The company has no website and no working phone.
Shkreli reportedly anticipates that the company will continue to grow while he is in prison. He still owns a 40% stake in the company, which could be worth as much as 3.7 billion dollars by the time he gets out of prison.
Details of Shkreli’s life in prison:
Anecdotes from Shkreli's time in prison have emerged, rich with detail.
“Perennially slight of build, he has gained weight and plans to begin a weightlifting program,” says Christie Smythe, an author writing a book about Mr. Shkreli who has visited him several times in prison.
He can now do 15 push-ups in a row. He has even made prison friends, including “Krispy” and “D-Block,” some of whom affectionately call him “Asshole,” according to people familiar with his new life.
But his ambitions for his time in prison appear to reach beyond physical health goals.
According to recent reports from The Wall Street Journal, Shkreli has been using not only a cell phone but also prison computers for pleasure and business alike. He has also continued to run a Twitter account and a personal blog in which he compares himself to Elon Musk.
“Memo to Roger Stone Jr.,” he posted on Jan. 25, the paper said. He then wrote, cryptically, that he hoped “a supra-judiciary entity will intervene in your case,” before adding a postscript.
“P.S. Never, ever, ever snitch.”
The Feds will be looking into the reports:
Shkreli is just 16 months into his seven-year sentence for securities fraud. Infamously, Shkreli jacked up the price of an AIDS drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
As a result of the conviction, Shkreli was barred from running Turing Pharmaceuticals, which was later renamed Phoenixus. However, according to the Wall Street Journal Shkreli “still helps call the shots.”
Feds will be investigating the new reports. According to the prison inmate handbook, prisoners are prohibited from “conducting a business in any way.”
