What It's Like to Date Martin Shkreli

He takes you to a nice Japanese restaurant, buys $120 tea
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 6, 2016 9:49 AM CST
What It's Like to Date Martin Shkreli
Martin Shkreli leaves the courthouse after his arraignment in New York, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Martin Shkreli may be the most hated man in America, but he's also "a pretty good time." So says Jacklyn Collier, who matched up with the now-former drug CEO on Tinder and went on a date with him in the fall, just after his company jacked up the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill. After proving his Tinder account was in fact real—he unwisely sent Collier a picture of his credit card—the pair met at a Japanese restaurant in Manhattan, Collier writes at the Washington Post. He seemed courteous—he got his assistant to call ahead to make sure there was a vegetarian menu for Collier—but also "really nervous." Thankfully, he loosened up after one drink and admitted to being a lightweight, Collier says.

Overall, Shkreli didn't come across nearly as cocky as he does on social media, Collier says. He spoke about procuring housing for a homeless woman in Boston, and when she asked about Daraprim's price hike, Collier says Shkreli told her the drug would still be available to those who couldn't afford it. "I was skeptical that he could guarantee that, but also wasn't sure that he couldn't," she writes. It was around the time that he ordered a $120 tea, even though he said he didn't really like tea, that Collier realized he wasn't her "Prince Pharming." "He might as well have eaten a $100 bill in front of me," she says. While one date wasn't enough to determine if Shkreli is a good person, "he's a lot more interesting and complex than I would have imagined," Collier writes. Click for the full column. (More Martin Shkreli stories.)

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