Wine, Wu-Tang, and Pharmaceuticals: Inside Martin Shkreli's World | VICE | United States
Echoing
comments he made to the
Wall Street Journal, Shkreli tells me he regrets playing a "character" on TV and Twitter. He also says that raising drug prices hurts insurance companies rather than patients, and that his public persona led to his being targeted by the authorities. He's a pro wrestling fan, and clearly wants to do a heel-face turn—transforming himself into the people's champ. But at the same time, he realizes that the villain people love to hate gets more airtime. And attention is something he desperately, achingly craves.
"A great bad guy is your best act," he says.
It's telling that Shkreli's current favorite wrestler is Damien Sandow, an elitist who pretends to be a Rhodes scholar, holds the microphone like a wine glass, and has a move called
Cubito Aequet—Latin for "Elbow of Disdain."
"Everyone's booing him and he just talks down to the crowd and it's lovely," Shkreli explains.