The one copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon A Time In Shaolin album has reportedly been purchased by Martin Shkreli for $2 million, according to Bloomberg.
The 32-year-old pharmaceutical company executive says that he’s yet to listen to the project, which is reportedly 128 minues long and consists of 31 tracks and skits.
“I could be convinced to listen to it earlier if Taylor Swift wants to hear it or something like that,” Shkreli says during an interview with Bloomberg. “But for now, I think I’m going to kind of save it for a rainy day.”
Shkreli was interested in purchasing the album when he was told that would likely get to meet with famous people who would want to hear the album.
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He later had lunch with Wu-Tang Clan rapper-producer RZA.
“We didn’t have a ton in common,” Shkreli says. “I can’t say I got to know him that well, but I obviously like him.”
In September, Shkreli made news when his Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of one pill of its parasitic drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750. The move drew criticism from presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, as well as the BBC, among others.
RZA says that the sale of Once Upon A Time In Shaolin was complete before Shkreli’s business practices became the target of criticism.
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“The sale of Once Upon A Time In Shaolin was agreed upon in May, well before Martin Skhreli’s [sic] business practices came to light,” RZA says in an e-mail statement to Bloomberg Businessweek. “We decided to give a significant portion of the proceeds to charity.”
Shkreli says he plans to have others artists make one-of-a-kind albums for him.
“It’s almost like the instructions to the band are, ‘Do your best work, however much time it takes, and never compromise anything for me,’” he says. “‘I just want to hear what you’ve got.’”
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