back to article Martin Shkreli, out of prison for running a Ponzi scheme, now pushes Web3 thing

Martin Shkreli, released from prison in May after serving much of his seven-year prison sentence for securities fraud, on Monday announced Druglike, described as "a Web3 drug discovery software platform." Web3 has been characterized by Tesla CEO and Twitter antagonist Elon Musk as "more marketing buzzword than reality right …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The second paragraph

    Is all you need to know.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The second paragraph is all you need to know

      Exactly. If that Fuck Nugget Musk says it's shit then it is shit.

      Just like due diligence.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    If you ever had any doubt

    That Web3 was a Ponzi scheme, you now know for sure.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Buzzword Bingo

    Nuritas beat him to it. Only they use "AI" & pixie dust. https://www.nuritas.com/our-story/

  4. steviebuk Silver badge

    Shame

    he didn't rot in prison.

    He is a cunt of the highest order for this alone:

    "He had raised the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim (pyrimethamine) from $17.50 per tablet to $750 per tablet after acquiring the rights to the medication, and taken steps to prevent rival firms from making a generic version."

    1. cyberdemon Silver badge
      Holmes

      Re: Shame

      By the sounds of it he's heading straight back there, by doing the very same thing he was sent to prison for in the first place

      1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

        Re: Shame

        IANAL, but he's banned both from the pharmaceutical industry and the securities industry, and from serving as an officer or director of any publicly-traded company (per White's writeup). So it would seem to me that his relationship to this latest, er, venture must either be rather tenuous and temporary, or he'll be in violation of one court order or another.

        So, presumably, he's here only for his terrific PR skills and popularity with the general public.

        1. TheRealRoland
          Angel

          Re: Shame

          CEO: "I'll have to confer on this with our janitor, Mr. Shkreli, who definitely is not calling the shots on this."

    2. MJI Silver badge

      Why is he out?

      Should be in for a lot longer.

  5. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
    Pirate

    For The World's Most Punchable Man . . .

    . . . this is probably his motivation.

  6. xyz123 Silver badge

    Shkreli is already under investigation for FURTHER fraud since his original conviction.

    Giving even a single dollar to his new ponzi scheme is basically just funding a few lavish parties until the cash runs out and back to prison he goes.

  7. Howard Sway Silver badge

    "I would recommend waiting until the paper is published by a peer reviewed journal"

    Personally, I would recommend running a mile and ensuring every last penny of your money goes nowhere near this convicted fraudster whatever junk he's pushing, but that's just me : unfortunately there are always going to be plenty of fools who are still willing to listen to him and get suckered in to his latest bullshit scheme, which he's launched a mere 2 months after finishing a long prison sentence for the last one.

    1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: "I would recommend waiting until the paper is published by a peer reviewed journal"

      Well, the scientific thing to do is wait for peer review before drawing any conclusions. I mean, it's theoretically possible that a fraudster could start by pushing something actually useful.

      Obviously not in this particular case, since the utility of any combination of Shkreli and web3 can't possibly be non-zero. But in general.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Am I the only one who tuned into the snark from professor mustache wax at the end?

    "Eg, if it is published in a high-impact factor journal such as Nature" (Like his was..)

    Zing. Maybe putting a bit of extra hot sauce on that one. We get it, your software does sort of the same thing, only as open source, and actually for free, and it exists in the real world, and multiple people agree with you that is does what it says on the tin. I mean the guy your throwing shade on is the literal and titular Pharma Bro, no need to swing for the fences..

    I mean unless you're aiming for the back side of Shkreli's noggin I guess.

    1. Joe W Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Am I the only one who tuned into the snark from professor mustache wax at the end?

      Yup, that was a nice nasty remark, wasn't it?

      In my experience especially those two journals have a tendency to publish controversial stuff as well - it generates more articles ("comments on...." and "replies to ...") and tons of citations (beginning with the words "in contrast to the work done by....", driving up the impact factor). They also have a higher number of retracted publications than other journals, if I remember that correctly.

      "There's no science in Nature and no nature in Science", as people put it.

      Yes, both journals publish some really cool stuff, but there are also some less great articles (cold fusion, memory of water...) in there. It is a bit of a prestige thing to publish there (I know a bunch of people who did and still do publish there, but those are in my opinion often not the best articles they wrote).

  9. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    WTF?

    Shkreli

    How is it that he isn't banned from ever heading a company again ?

    1. cyberdemon Silver badge

      Re: Shkreli

      I wouldn't be surprised if he IS, and he's brazenly flouting that, too.

    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Shkreli

      Because, in America, making money even by fraud is evidence of being blessed by god.

    3. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: Shkreli

      He's only banned from being an officer or director of a publicly-traded company. My guess is that came from the SEC trial, and that's what they have jurisdiction to request (and received from the court).

      So when Druglike goes public (ha ha) he won't be able to be an officer.

    4. cmdrklarg

      Re: Shkreli

      I'm just wondering why he wasn't publicly flogged for being a smug douchecanoe.

      1. J. Cook Silver badge

        Re: Shkreli

        Primarily because public flogging was banned some time ago. Shame, it might make people think twice for pulling this sort of crap.

  10. ComputerSays_noAbsolutelyNo Silver badge

    The magic of EULA

    Sales tells you to pay up,

    EULA tells you, you can't expect anything to be/work as advertised.

    It's magic.

  11. Jonathon Green

    120 guns per head of population and Shkreli’s still walking around.

    Maybe that second amendment to the constitution thing doesn’t do quite as much to encourage good behaviour amongst the populace as some of it’s fans claim…

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "after serving much of his seven-year prison sentence"

    Four years out of seven are just 57% of the sentence - not "much of". Just hope they reserved the cell for his next stay.

    1. Tom 38

      Re: "after serving much of his seven-year prison sentence"

      Interesting. What percentage would you put "much" as? Is it more than "most"?

      I would say "much" can even be less than 50%. "Much of the MPs voted for Penny Mordaunt, but most voted for Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss"

      1. jonathan keith

        Re: "after serving much of his seven-year prison sentence"

        Many. Many of the MPs etc.

        1. TheRealRoland
          Devil

          Re: "after serving much of his seven-year prison sentence"

          "But my heart voted against..." (much of an MP...)

    2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: "after serving much of his seven-year prison sentence"

      Well, this is a US prison sentence. Except for non-violent drug offenders, serving half the assigned sentence is relatively long.

      (Non-violent drug offenders need to be locked up for as long as possible, of course. And then denied any type of support when they get out. That's how we'll win the War On Drugs!)

  13. Naich

    Putting sprinkles on a turd

    I suppose if you are going to be pointlessly investing in a block chain Ponzi scheme, it's slightly better if you are doing something useful with the energy it requires. Mind you, if a useful drug does come out of it, who gets the rights to it?

  14. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Perhaps the condition of release for such criminals should be that for the next 20 years they always introduce themselves with the words "I am a convicted fraudster and you should not trust me with your money.".

    Even then they'd probably get some takers but at least they couldn't say they hadn't been warned.

    1. Howard Sway Silver badge

      This is web3. He could dance in the street waving fistfuls of banknotes about shouting "this is a miniscule proportion of the money that suckers have invested in my worthless crap, and I'm going to pocket it all for myself" and still the millions would keep rolling in from even more suckers who still believe it's a one way ticket to riches involving no work.

  15. imanidiot Silver badge

    CO-founded by Shkrelli

    Ok. this dickhead is a CO-founder, which means he's working with others... So who the heck thought starting a new company with Shkrelli (fresh out of prison) was a good idea? Or that having his name attached to the project would work out favourably?? Do they WANT to go to prison for being found accessory to fraud and/or other crimes?

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: CO-founded by Shkrelli

      Have you met the general public? It's full of gullible idiots who believe in magic money trees that just need watering with a little of their cash.

    2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: CO-founded by Shkrelli

      No, they want to cash out early and make a quick buck from gullible investors.

      It's unethical, and not without risk, but it's a viable investment strategy.

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