WASHINGTON — Controversial pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli is taking a different kind of approach to fundraising. He’s giving a raffle winner a chance to give it their best shot, and punch him in the face. It all started on Twitter this week when Shkreli said that he would give the opportunity to the highest bidder on his eBay listing.
So far the two highest bidders to punch or slap me in the face are for $78,000 and $25,500. Let me know!
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) September 26, 2016
That listing has since been taken down by eBay, but that hasn’t stopped Shkreli.
ebay ruining it https://t.co/3CxJd2cFgl — Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) September 27, 2016
He has since changed the manner of how the winner will be selected, but prize itself is still the same.
If you donate to this site, you are entered into a raffle to slap/punch me. The # of dollars you donate is the # of tickets you get. https://t.co/VRbILlQwh7
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) September 28, 2016
Shkreli says the donations are for a fundraiser for the son of his PR consultant. The consultant recently died; the son is recovering from cancer. Shkreli also says that he’d take the winner out to dinner if they’d rather not slug him. Shkreli is co-founder of the hedge fund MSMB Capital Management, co-founder and former CEO of biotechnology firm Retrophin and the founder and former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. He was accused of price gouging after Turing raised the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim from $13.50 per pill to $750.