Attorney General James Urges Court to Punish Martin Shkreli for Brazenly Violating Lifetime Ban from Pharmaceutical Industry

Shkreli Traded Pharmaceutical Stocks and Broadcasted His Activities on Social Media 

AG James and Bipartisan Coalition Seek Court Order Forcing Shkreli to Sell All Pharmaceutical Stocks

and Forfeit All Trading Profits

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a bipartisan coalition of six other states in urging a federal court to hold Martin Shkreli in contempt and impose significant penalties for violating a lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry. In January 2022, Attorney General James and the coalition won their case against Shkreli when the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that he violated federal and state antitrust laws by acquiring the lifesaving drug Daraprim, raising the price per pill from $17.50 to $750, and restricting competition from generic drug manufacturers that severely limited supply and put patients at risk. In its ruling, the court banned Shkreli for life from participating in the pharmaceutical industry in any way. Despite the court’s order, Shkreli has openly traded pharmaceutical stocks and publicly discussed the industry at length, encouraging his social media followers to invest based on his recommendations. Attorney General James and the coalition today urged the court to hold Shkreli in contempt and institute penalties, including forcing Shkreli to forfeit all trading profits and sell all his pharmaceutical stock.

“A court-ordered lifetime ban isn’t a suggestion,” said Attorney General James. “Martin Shkreli has been livestreaming his pharmaceutical company trades for the world to see, in violation of the law. Shkreli’s market manipulation and monopolistic tactics put investors and the public at risk, and we’re going back to court to put a stop to his latest illegal behavior.”

In January 2020, Attorney General James and the coalition sued Shkreli, his company Vyera pharmaceuticals, and his business partner Kevin Mulleady for illegally suppressing competition to protect their monopoly control of Daraprim. Daraprim is the only Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug for the treatment of toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease which may pose serious and often life-threating consequences for those with compromised immune systems, including babies born to women infected with the disease and those with HIV. Daraprim was affordable and accessible for decades until August 2015, when Vyera, with Shkreli as its CEO, purchased the drug, increased the price, altered its distribution, and illegally limited generic competition. In January 2022, Attorney General James and the coalition won their lawsuit when the court found Shkreli violated antitrust laws, banned him for life from the pharmaceutical industry, and ordered him to pay nearly $65 million.

Attorney General James and the coalition allege that when Shkreli was released from prison in May 2022 after serving a sentence on separate securities fraud charges, he immediately began violating the ban by trading pharmaceutical stocks and has continued to do so ever since. Shkreli regularly livestreams his trading activity, posts publicly on social media about his trades and analysis, and brags about profits he’s made from trading pharmaceutical stocks.

Shkreli’s trading activity and public statements about the pharmaceutical industry are a blatant violation of the court-ordered ban. In July 2022, Shkreli began livestreaming on YouTube multiple times a week as part of a “trading challenge” against a fellow YouTuber to see who could grow an initial $50,000 deposit the most over two months. Shkreli’s livestreams indicated his portfolio was largely comprised of pharmaceutical stocks, and he dedicated a significant amount of time on his livestreams to discussing the pharmaceutical companies he was trading.

In 2024, Shkreli began a series of livestreams he called “Evaluating Stocks,” where he did deep dives into various companies, including pharmaceutical companies. Shkreli used these livestreams to make the case for shorting Cassava Sciences, Inc. (Cassava), a pharmaceutical company developing an Alzheimer’s disease treatment. Shkreli’s livestreams throughout October and November 2024 show him trading heavily in Cassava. When Shkreli’s short position paid off after Cassava announced the results of a failed clinical study, he took to social media to brag about his profits. The total value of his Interactive Brokers account climbed to $841,000, up from $138,200 shortly before the Cassava announcement.

An example of a social media post advertising a livestream and showing Shkreli’s short position in a pharmaceutical stock

Shkreli’s livestreams continued to show he was trading more than a dozen pharmaceutical stocks throughout 2024 and 2025. In December 2025, Capricor, a pharmaceutical company that Shkreli had shorted, announced a positive result from its clinical trial, causing its stock to skyrocket. Shkreli’s position collapsed and he announced that the brokerage account he was using to trade was “over” after he had gone all in on shorting Capricor. In June 2026, Shkreli resumed livestreaming with a new brokerage account that showed a starting balance of $10 million. Shkreli continues to trade pharmaceutical company stocks and share his analysis of companies on social media. He has also indicated that he has more accounts and does most of his trading off social media. As he claimed during one livestream, “I have some other accounts that I’[d] show you, but, like, I know feds are watching.”

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that Shkreli’s trading and social media activity are clear violations of the court-ordered lifetime ban on participating in the pharmaceutical industry. The court’s order explicitly banned Shkreli from acquiring or holding an ownership interest in a pharmaceutical company and from making public statements to influence a pharmaceutical company’s business. Shkreli’s livestreams show him clearly doing both, and his public statements move markets as his followers invest following his recommendations. These market moves have real consequences for the companies Shkreli targets with his shorts, making it harder for them to raise capital, conduct research, and bring new medications to consumers.

Attorney General James and the coalition are asking the court to find Shkreli in contempt and impose sanctions to hold him accountable, including:

• Appointing an auditor at Shkreli’s expense to conduct a full accounting of his pharmaceutical company trading activity;
• Ordering Shkreli to divest all pharmaceutical company stocks;
• Imposing a fine equal to Shkreli’s profits from trading in pharmaceutical company stocks since the ban was issued on February 4, 2022, with no offset from losses on trades, plus interest; and
• Ordering further fines and potential incarceration if Shkreli does not abide by the ban and subsequent court orders

Joining Attorney General James and FTC in filing this motion are the attorneys general of California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

For New York, this matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Saami Zain, Deputy Bureau Chief Amy McFarlane, Bureau Chief Elinor R. Hoffmann, and Legal Assistant Arlene Leventhal, all of the Antitrust Bureau. The Antitrust Bureau is a part of the Division for Economic Justice, which is overseen by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo and First Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux