"First Kiss in Prison Visiting Room" US Reporter Falls in Love While Covering Financial Fraud Case

Investigating a Pharmaceutical CEO Profiting from Drug Price Hikes Leads to Romantic Relationship

Former Bloomberg reporter Kristy Smeed who fell in love while covering Martin Shkreli / Photo by Facebook Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Attention is drawn to the story of an American journalist who fell in love with a financial fraudster she was covering and even got engaged to him.

According to the US fashion magazine 'Elle' on the 21st (local time), Christie Schmid (37), a former Bloomberg reporter, quit her job to get engaged to Martin Shkreli (37), the financial fraudster she was covering.

Schmid's fianc?, Shkreli, was the CEO of the pharmaceutical company Turing but was indicted in 2018 on charges including securities fraud, sentenced to seven years in prison, and is currently serving his sentence.

It is also reported that in 2015, Shkreli raised the price of the AIDS drug produced by Turing from $13.5 (about 15,000 won) per pill to $750 (about 825,000 won), a 55-fold increase, making excessive profits, and caused public outrage by maintaining a mocking expression and tone during a US congressional hearing.

Martin Shkreli, an American pharmaceutical businessman serving a prison sentence for securities fraud and other charges / Photo by Yonhap News

Schmid reportedly continued to focus on reporting related to Shkreli after covering his arrest.

However, the two eventually developed a romantic relationship beyond that of journalist and subject. Ultimately, Schmid resigned from Bloomberg to marry Shkreli and divorced her ex-husband.

In an interview with Elle, Schmid confessed, "At some point, my relationship with Shkreli developed beyond that of journalist and subject."

However, after learning that the Elle interview revealing their relationship would be published, Shkreli reportedly cut off contact with Schmid.

Schmid admitted that the last time she contacted Shkreli was in February, and she has not been in touch since the summer.

Meanwhile, Shkreli's side stated in a message to Elle, "We wish Schmid good luck in her future endeavors."

However, Schmid has expressed that she will wait for him until his sentence ends in 2023.

After the story was reported, Schmid posted on her Twitter account, saying, "No matter what people think, I am glad to have shared my story," and added, "You have no idea how hard it is to keep such a story only in your heart."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.