US government reveals sale price of Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ album
Wu-Tang Clan famously sold their Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album to Martin Shkreli in 2015 for around $2million. Following the Pharma Bro’s arrest, the United States Department of Justice has finally revealed how much the government sold it for.
Shkreli, the CEO of Vyera Pharmaceuticals (formerly Turing Pharmaceuticals), was arrested in 2018 for securities fraud. The federal court seized the album as part of his assets.
The Department of Justice later sold the album after Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in prison, a $75,000 fine, and the forfeiture of $7.4million in assets.
They sold the project to “satisfy the outstanding balance” on his forfeiture judgment, except there was one rule: “The contract of sale contains a confidentiality provision that protects information relating to the buyer and price.”
In 2021, it was revealed that PleasrDAO had paid “the equivalent of $4 million in a cryptocurrency tied to the dollar.” Now, the exact amount has been revealed: $2,238,482.30. According to Bloomberg, the fee was the same figure Shkreli owed the government.
Only one copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, consisting of 23 tracks, was created, and the album has never been available on streaming platforms. In turn, it became the most expensive album ever sold. The project, produced by RZA and Cilvaringz, was secretly recorded between 2007 and 2013, and remains unreleased.
As part of his purchase, Shkreli agreed not to duplicate or play the album commercially until 2103. In 2016, Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah called Shkreli a “shithead” and said “the people” should own the album, not him. He added, “What you gone hold it for 88 years for?”