FTC Seeks Contempt Ruling Against Former Pharma Executive
The Facts
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and seven states asked a federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday to hold former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli in contempt, saying he traded stocks in at least 60 pharmaceutical companies despite a 2022 order barring him from the industry.
- Regulators asked the court to order Shkreli to divest any pharmaceutical holdings and pay a fine equal to his trading profits since Feb. 4, 2022, with no credit for losses, plus escalating consequences including further fines and incarceration.
- The filing alleges Shkreli broadcast his trades and opinions about drug companies on YouTube, X and Reddit, and that one trading challenge used an account with a $10 million starting balance that held 11 pharmaceutical stocks, including Pfizer and Moderna.
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The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
A lifetime ban handed down after a full trial isn't a polite suggestion, and flouting it in public, on livestream, is about as brazen as it gets. Letting a court order get laughed off would tell every price gouger that antitrust judgments carry no weight. Real penalties, including forfeiting every dollar made in defiance, are the only way the ban means anything.
Establishment-critical narrative
Banning a person from an entire sector of the economy for life, down to a cashier job at a drugstore, is punishment far beyond anything proven in court. Trading stocks with personal money and talking about public companies online is ordinary speech and ordinary investing. Stretching an injunction to muzzle opinions sets a scary precedent for anyone regulators dislike.
