'Most Hated' CEO Buys South City Pharmaceutical Company

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- Martin Shkreli, the man who called himself the "most hated CEO in America" is doing business in the Bay Area after purchasing a 70 percent stake in the South San Francisco drugmaker, KaloBios.

Shkreli will serve as CEO and chairman of the board.

The 32-year-old hedge fund manager and entrepreneur gained notoriety earlier this year after his company Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the drug Daraprim -- used in the treatment of malaria and HIV -- and then raised its price from $13 to $750 per pill. After a huge backlash, Shkreli lowered the price, but only for hospitals.

With a series of tweets in the past day, Shkreli said he was happy to save KaloBios and won't take a salary for the job.

KaloBios is in clinical trials for two drugs to treat leukemia and, after months of public battering, much of it online, Shkreli seems to be displaying a softer side, promising to hire back 17 laid-off employees at KaloBios.

Wall Street appears to be quite happy that Shkreli took over. KaloBios' stock is up 800 percent.