Elusive Wu-Tang Clan album bought by 'most hated' American

Martin Shkreli has been called the most hated man in America and the pharmaceutical tycoon's reputation looks set to get worse after he bought the vaunted secret Wu-Tang Clan album.

The New York rap collective revealed last year that it had recorded only one copy of a 31-track double-album entitled "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin," kept in a vault with a leather-bound 174-page lyric book waiting for a buyer.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek on Thursday revealed that Shkreli had bought the album for $2 million.

The 32-year-old executive immediately teased Wu-Tang Clan fans, writing on Twitter that he "may play something special."

The agreement forbade Shkreli from reselling "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" but gave him the right to stream it for free online.

The entrepreneur is best known to the public after his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, in September decided to raise the price of Daraprim, a drug used to treat HIV-positive people, from $13.50 to $750.

The move earned him the moniker in the media as the "most hated man in America"

"No one -- including Martin Shkreli -- should have the power to price-gouge American families," Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton said at the time, with Republican candidate and fellow tycoon Donald Trump calling Shkreli "a spoiled brat."

One of Shkreli's favorite ways of self-expression is a livestream of himself on YouTube, in which he speaks about chemical molecules or surfs dating sites.

"It's good because people get to see what I'm like, and most people are like, 'Oh, you're not as bad as I thought'," he said in November.

The Wu-Tang Clan -- which has fashioned itself as socially conscious, despite frequent feuds with other rappers -- found itself on the defensive after Shkreli was revealed as the buyer.

"The sale of 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin' was agreed upon in May, well before Martin Skhreli's (sic) business practices came to light," RZA, generally seen as the leader of the ensemble, said in a statement.

"We decided to give a significant portion of the proceeds to charity."