Update 2/4: Since this article was published the value of Shkreli’s E*Trade account has dropped by more than $40 million.
On his way out of jail last month, Martin Shkreli dropped a major clue about his riches, federal prosecutors disclosed Thursday.
After the hedge fund manager turned biotech CEO was arrested in December on allegations that he plundered his own companies in a Ponzi-like scheme, Shkreli was released after putting up a $5 million bond. The bond was secured by assets in Shkreli’s E*Trade (ETFC) account, which has a total balance of about $45 million, according to the U.S. Attorneys’ court filing.
While Shkreli may have other financial accounts and assets outside of E*Trade, the $45 million figure offers the best baseline yet for just how much the 32-year-old disgraced pharmaceutical executive has in the bank—though his actual net worth could be much higher.
The court order disclosing the E*Trade account also prohibits Shkreli (or anyone acting on his behalf) from selling, transferring, disposing of or otherwise using any of the assets in the account.
Shkreli’s net worth had been a subject of intense scrutiny even before the then-CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals was arrested last month, which led him to quit the company the following day. Other shenanigans, such as Shkreli’s September attempt to raise the price of a Turing drug by more than 5,000%, as well as his $2 million to purchase of the only copy of a Wu-Tang Clan album, prompted questions about where the young executive was getting his money.
In denying the charges against him, Shkreli told Coins2Day through a spokesperson that his investors had made money and “enjoyed strong results,” but failed to quantify that investment performance or elaborate on the source of the monetary returns.