Shkreli became known when he drew criticism when his pharmaceutical company increased the price of a critical HIV drug it owned the rights to from $13.50 to $750 a pill overnight. Meanwhile last month a New York jury found him guilty on three unrelated counts of securities fraud.
On Wednesday, Shkreli put the album on eBay and with his characteristic bravado said that he had never fully listened to it.
"At any time I may cancel this sale and I may even break this album in frustration," he wrote in a note for the auction, which will run through September 15.
The double-CD, for which Shkreli paid US$2 million in what was considered the most expensive ever purchase of a musical recording, was selling Thursday afternoon with a top bid of $1.38m (US$999,400).
Shkreli insisted he did not need money but rather was trying to make a larger point. He was roundly criticised for buying the album, including by Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah who said the work should belong to "the people."
"I decided to purchase this album as a gift to the Wu-Tang Clan for their tremendous musical output. Instead I received scorn from at least one of their (least-intelligent) members, and the world at large failed to see my purpose of putting a serious value behind music," Shkreli wrote.
"I will be curious to see if the world values music nearly as much as I have."
The much maligned businessman said he would donate half of the sale's earnings to the Oregon Health and Science University for research in drugs in rare diseases.
But perhaps remembering the public's perception of him, he later clarified that he would only make a donation if he knew his donation would be accepted.
The Wu-Tang Clan, reflecting the group's fascination with fantasy narratives, made just one copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin and stored it in a vault in Morocco while auctioning it.
The Wu-Tang Clan declared that the album could not be made available commercially until the year 2103 but indicated that its owner was free to share it to private parties.
