What Is Martin Shkreli’s Net Worth? Pharma Boy In Spotlight After Girlfriend Discloses Relationship

Martin Shkreli, the infamous hedge fund manager serving a seven-year sentence for fraud, has been in a romantic relationship with a former Bloomberg News reporter. The reporter recently disclosed details of their relationship to Elle magazine after covering him for several years.

Christie Smythe, 38, told Elle how between 2018 and 2019 she quit her job at Bloomberg, divorced her husband, and left her Brooklyn apartment. It was all due to her relationship with Shkreli, which started when she helped break the story of his arrest in 2015.

Smythe said she “fell down the rabbit hole” as she began advocating for Shkreli, who had faced a litany of charges. At one point, Shkreli was placed in a holding cell by U.S. marshals, prompting Smythe to immediately contacted his friends about his medications and to take care of his cat.

While Bloomberg News said it had found no bias in Smythe’s reporting on Shkreli, the online publication had warned her about her tweets and raised red flags when they learned of her conduct.

But Smythe would stick it out with Shkreli, and would pay visits to see him at his federal prison in Pennsylvania. “I’m expecting it to be messy and difficult,” she said of her long-term prospects with Shkreli.

Shkreli, who CelebrityNetWorth.com estimates has a net worth of $70 million, first entered the spotlight when he increased the buying rights of an HIV drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill in 2014, making him among the most hated public figures in the country.

He later earned the nickname “Pharma Bro” after posting a photo of himself mimicking a pose from a rapper Flo Rida's music video that social media jumped on, and the name stuck.

He was also jailed for offering $5,000 for anyone that could bring him one of Hillary Clinton’s hairs. Clinton had slammed Shkreli for price gouging Daraprim and he would later endorse Donald Trump, who had once called Shkreli a "spoiled brat."

In March 2018, Shkreli was sentenced for lying to investors about money he withdrew from his hedge fund and is scheduled to be released from prison in 2023. He also defrauded investors of the drug Retrophin by hiding some of his stock ownership and was ordered to pay $7.3 million.

While covering Shkreli, Smythe detailed how they grew close. She recalled accompanying him to a lecture at Princeton University, where she filled in for him at one point in a talk with students, claiming she almost felt like she was "a political wife."

Their first kiss was in prison in a room that smelled of chicken wings. “I told Martin I loved him. And he told me he loved me, too," Smythe said.

Despite the distance between the pair, Smythe maintains that she is happy. “It’s hard to think of a time when I felt happier,” she told Elle. “At first he’s like, ‘Can I call you my girlfriend?’” and “this led very naturally into thinking about a future together.”

Smythe said she began discussing kids’ names with Shkreli and prenups and eventually had her eggs frozen as she worried about being too old to have children by the time he was released from prison.

Smythe hasn’t been able to see Shkreli lately due to the prison's COVID restrictions.

It's also unclear how Shkreli currently feels about Smythe after an oddly interpreted letter. Shkreli's response appeared to suggest that he had a negative opinion of her doing an article with Elle.

Shkreli’s lawyer said in an interview Monday that he was surprised by the Elle article, according to the New York Times.