Martin Shkreli

Introduction

Martin Shkreli — the former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO nicknamed “Pharma Bro” after jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug by more than 4,000 percent, and later a convicted securities fraudster — was accused by federal and state regulators on October 13, 2026 of flagrantly violating the court-ordered lifetime ban that was supposed to keep him out of the pharmaceutical industry. The Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan coalition of seven state attorneys general asked a federal judge to hold the 43-year-old in civil contempt, alleging he has traded stocks in at least 60 pharmaceutical companies since leaving prison in May 2022 — livestreaming the bets, bragging about his gains and urging followers to short biotech firms. They want his trading profits surrendered, his pharma stock divested and escalating penalties, including possible incarceration, if he keeps defying the ban.

Background Information

Shkreli became a national symbol of drug-price gouging in 2015, when his company Turing Pharmaceuticals bought the antiparasitic Daraprim — the only FDA-approved treatment for toxoplasmosis — and raised its price from $17.50 to $750 a tablet. A January 2022 ruling by US District Judge Denise Cote found his anticompetitive scheme “egregious, deliberate, repetitive, long-running and ultimately dangerous,” ordered him to disgorge $64.6 million and banned him for life from participating in the pharmaceutical industry in any way. Separately, he was convicted in 2017 of securities fraud for looting the drug company Retrophin and served most of a seven-year sentence, walking free in May 2022. A federal appeals court upheld the industry ban in January 2024, and the Supreme Court declined to review the case later that year. The photo above shows him testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in February 2016.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Moved for civil contempt by the FTC and seven states for allegedly defying his lifetime pharmaceutical-industry ban — regulators say he traded pharma stocks in at least 60 companies, livestreamed his bets and ran public campaigns to short biotech firms. The contempt allegations are unadjudicated; Shkreli had made no public response as of October 13, 2026, with the Post noting it had sought comment from him and his attorney.

The joint motion, filed October 13 in the Southern District of New York with attorneys general from New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, alleges Shkreli’s “brazen violations” began almost as soon as he left prison: livestreaming stock trades on YouTube while barred from any participation in the industry. Regulators say he styled himself “the GOAT of binary events” and boasted “[t]he last time I shorted a stock, I made $20 million bucks,” told viewers “I’m showing you how to trade and invest in biotech,” and explained his “magic trick”: “It doesn’t matter what trades I make because I can always find a couple of biotech stocks to smoke.” The ban, the motion notes, expressly prohibits him from acquiring or holding an ownership interest in a pharmaceutical company or taking any action to influence its management or business.

The filing details the trades: Shkreli allegedly shorted Cassava Sciences — an Alzheimer’s-treatment developer — ahead of its failed November 2024 trial, bragging afterward as his brokerage account ballooned from $138,200 to $841,000, a gain of more than $700,000. In November 2025 he announced he was betting against Capricor Therapeutics, whose stock plunged 17 percent — then soared more than 370 percent the next month on positive clinical results, wiping out his all-in position. “It’s over for the Schwab account,” he told viewers. He allegedly traded shares in more than 60 pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Moderna, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, launched a trading challenge in June 2026 built on a reported $10 million starting portfolio, and hinted at hidden accounts: “I have some other accounts that I’[d] show you, but, like, I know feds are watching, so f–k that.” Regulators want a sworn accounting of every pharmaceutical trade since February 4, 2022, an audit at his own expense, a fine equal to his trading profits plus interest with no offset for losses, divestment of any pharma stock — and escalating penalties, including incarceration, for future violations. The filing also flags his significant other, Chelsea Voss, and his sister, Leonora Izerne, as apparent facilitators whose evidence regulators want preserved.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The enforcement action drew blunt statements from the officials behind it. “A court-ordered lifetime ban isn’t a suggestion,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “Martin Shkreli has been livestreaming his pharmaceutical company trades for the world to see, in violation of the law.” California’s Rob Bonta said Shkreli “simply cannot help himself,” and the FTC’s competition bureau director Daniel Guarnera said the filing “should serve as notice that the FTC will not hesitate to enforce violations of court orders.” The commission voted 1-0 to authorize the contempt action, with Chairman Andrew Ferguson recused. Commentators noted the irony that the man whose price-gouging made him the internet’s most hated executive a decade ago is now accused of treating his punishment — the industry ban — as content for his own livestreams.

Current Status

The contempt motion was filed October 13, 2026, and no court has ruled; the request is for an order to show cause why Shkreli should not be held in civil contempt, with sanctions — profit forfeiture, divestment, an audit at his expense and escalating fines or incarceration for continued violations — to follow if the court agrees. US District Judge Denise Cote, who imposed the 2022 ban, is the regulators’ target for the request. The allegations remain unadjudicated, and Shkreli has not publicly responded; the New York Post reported it had sought comment from him and his attorney. Regulators also asked that Voss and Izerne be ordered to preserve evidence related to his transactions.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Shkreli’s post-prison reinvention as a livestream markets pundit — the persona he leaned on after the Daraprim scandal and two fraud convictions — is now the direct evidence against him, and the sanctions regulators seek would strip whatever he made from it: profits plus interest with no loss offset, all remaining pharma stock, and a sworn accounting under audit at his own expense. A contempt finding could also mean jail. The $64.6 million Daraprim judgment remains unpaid, and the man once banned to keep him away from drug pricing now faces the court that banned him — with his own videos as the exhibits.

Sources

NY Post, “‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli broke lifetime ban on drug industry trades, fed say,” Oct 13, 2026 — source
FTC, “FTC, States Ask Federal Court to Hold Martin Shkreli in Contempt for Allegedly Violating Lifetime Ban from Pharmaceutical Industry,” Oct 13, 2026 — source
New York Attorney General, “Attorney General James Urges Court to Punish Martin Shkreli for Brazenly Violating Lifetime Ban from Pharmaceutical Industry,” Oct 13, 2026 — source
California Attorney General, “Attorney General Bonta Moves to Hold Martin Shkreli, Infamous Pharma Bro, in Contempt for Defying Lifetime Pharmaceutical Industry Ban,” Oct 13, 2026 — source
The Guardian, “FTC and seven states seek contempt ruling against Shkreli over pharma ban,” Oct 13, 2026 — source
Wikimedia Commons, “Martin Shkreli 2016.jpg”, public domain, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (photo source) — source
@nypost trigger tweet, Oct 13, 2026 — source