Last week, it looked like Martin Shkreli sold his notorious one-off Wu-Tang album (that may not actually be a Wu-Tang album) on eBay for a little over a million dollars.
Shkreli, who is in jail awaiting sentencing on charges of fraud and conspiracy, took a million dollar loss since he bought Once Upon A Time In Shaolin in 2015 for $2 million.
[Related: Martin Shkreli may have bought a fake Wu-Tang album.]
But the sale may not be legit.
Matt “M-Eighty” Markoff, who's been involved with Wu-Tang for over 15 years as an artist, A&R man and executive, told Hip Hop DX that the winning bid could be bogus because of Shkreli's latest incarceration -- which occurred during the bidding - and questions about the buyer.
“I’m extremely confident that in light of Martin’s recent incarceration, there’s potential that the eBay auction will not hold up,” Markoff tells HipHopDX. “There is doubt the buyer is a qualified candidate who has the requisite funds, meets sellers specific deadlines, and is a real candidate versus a friend of the seller who may have intentionally bid up the auction in hopes of reaching a greater sales potential.”Markoff added that he had been negotiating behind the scenes with Shkreli before he was jailed. He believes he still has a 70 percent chance of landing the album for somewhere between $500,000 and $1,000,000.
“For days leading up to Martin’s arrest, after I had successfully provided him with my offer memorandum and financial reports, he failed to provide me with a copy of his original purchase agreement for both my personal review and that of my legal counsel,” he says. “Above all else, that’s the biggest consideration I have when presented with the reality on spending a million dollars.After all of the fuss, do you have any desire to listen to A Time In Shaolin?