FTC asks court to hold Martin Shkreli in contempt for violating lifetime pharma ban

On October 13, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission and seven states asked a New York federal court to hold Martin Shkreli in contempt for violating his 2022 lifetime pharmaceutical industry ban. Regulators allege Shkreli traded at least 60 drug stocks and promoted them online. Enforcement authorities seek full divestment, forfeiture of all trading profits since February 2022, escalating fines, and potential imprisonment for noncompliance.

New contempt motion and allegations against Shkreli

• ▪Regulators allege Martin Shkreli livestreamed his trades and shared opinions and recommendations about pharmaceutical company business and management on social media and YouTube
• ▪The Federal Trade Commission vote to authorize the civil contempt action against Martin Shkreli for violating his lifetime pharmaceutical industry ban was 1-0, following the recusal of FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson
• ▪The Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of seven states filed a motion on October 13, 2026, asking U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in the Southern District of New York to hold Martin Shkreli in civil contempt
• ▪Regulators allege Martin Shkreli publicly traded in at least 60 pharmaceutical company stocks since being released from prison in 2022

Requested penalties and court remedies

• ▪Regulators asked the court to order Martin Shkreli to divest all pharmaceutical stocks and yield all trading profits earned since February 4, 2022, without credit for losses
• ▪Regulators asked the court to require Martin Shkreli to provide a complete accounting of all his pharmaceutical company stock trades since his 2022 release
• ▪Regulators asked the federal court to impose potential incarceration on Martin Shkreli if he refuses to comply with court orders
• ▪Regulators requested that Martin Shkreli face escalating financial penalties for any future violations of his 2022 lifetime pharmaceutical industry ban

Shkreli's previous legal actions and ban

• ▪U.S. District Judge Denise Cote issued a court order in 2022 banning Martin Shkreli from participating in the pharmaceutical industry for life
• ▪In 2020, the FTC and state attorneys general sued Martin Shkreli and Vyera Pharmaceuticals over an anti-competitive scheme that increased the price of toxoplasmosis drug Daraprim from $17.50 to $750 per tablet
• ▪Martin Shkreli was released from prison in 2022 after serving nearly five years of a seven-year sentence for a 2017 fraud conviction involving hedge funds and a biotech company
• ▪In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission asked a New York federal court to hold Martin Shkreli in contempt for failing to pay a $65 million fine and not cooperating with an investigation into software company Druglike

Debatable claims

• ▪Federal courts should impose incarceration if Martin Shkreli refuses to comply with his lifetime ban
• ▪Trading pharmaceutical stocks and sharing market commentary violates Martin Shkreli's lifetime industry ban