He announced on Tuesday that he would lower the price of the drug by an undisclosed amount

Shkreli hit headlines this week for purchasing Daraprim - used to treat parasitic infections - and raising the price of the drug nearly 5,500 per cent

The pharmaceutical company boss under fire from Hillary Clinton and many others for jacking up the price of the drug Daraprim 5,500 per cent overnight engaged previously in a bizarre 'campaign of 'harassment' of a former employee and his immediate family, according to court documents.

Drug boss Martin Shkreli, 32, also allegedly gained access to social media accounts belonging to that ex-employee, and contacted him and his relatives directly, including his teenage son and wife, as he accused the worker of defrauding Shkreli's then-pharma company, Retrophin.

'Your husband has stolen $1.6 million from me and I will get it back. I will go to any length necessary to get it back,' Shkreli wrote the wife of former Retrophin employee Timothy Pierotti in a January 2013 letter, according to court documents obtained by Daily Mail Online.

Shkreli, founder and CEO of his current company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, hit headlines after purchasing Daraprim - which is used to treat life-threatening parasitic infections - in August for $55million, and raising the price of the drug from $13.50 per tablet to $750.

Today, just hours before the harassing court case was revealed, Shkreli announced he would lower the price of the drug to make it 'more affordable'. He did not reveal the new price.

Villain: Martin Shkreli (above) founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, allegedly harassed a former employee and his family as he accused the worker of defrauding Shkreli's then-pharma company, Retrophin

Former Retrophin employee Timothy Pierotti, pictured here with his wife, Kristen, accused Shkreli of harassing his family and hacking his social media sites

Unfulfilled threat: Shkreli allegedly told Pierotti's wife, 'I hope to see you and your four children homeless'. The Pierotti family still lives in the 2600 sq. ft. single-story home that he did when Shkreli allegedly said the statement

In 2013, however, Pierotti, accused Shkreli of hacking into his Facebook, GMail, LinkedIn, AOL and Twitter accounts, and posting copies of Retrophin's complaint against Pierotti, Buzzfeed reported.

Pierotti alleged that Shkreli wrote his wife, Kristen, a letter, threatening, 'I hope to see you and your four children homeless and will do whatever I can to assure this'.

Pierotti also claimed that Shkreli tried to add his children on Facebook and messaged his teenage son, saying that his father 'betrayed' and 'stole' millions from him, according to court documents.

Shkreli's alleged harassment began in January 2013, just two months before Retrophin filed a lawsuit against Pierotti, alleging fraud and demanding $3million in damages.

The lawsuit was settled out of court and is sealed by a non-disclosure agreement.

Retrophin forced Shkreli out of the company and also filed a lawsuit against him, for $65million, after accusations of looting the company.

According to the lawsuit, Shkreli's former hedge fund, MSMB - another company he founded - was left 'virtually bankrupt' after Shkreli made a single trade with Merrill Lynch in February 2011.

Shkreli allegedly used Retrophin's funds to pay MSMB investors who had lost money in the trade, Retrophin's board of directors claims.

'Shkreli was the paradigm faithless servant,' the complaint states. 'Shkreli used his control over Retrophin to enrich himself, and to pay off claims of MSMB investors (who he had defrauded).'

On the day the lawsuit was filed, Shkreli gave a shout out to Wu-Tang Clan in a Tweet, writing, 'I am not the one to f*** with #wutang'.

He was ousted from the company after reportedly selling company stock and urging investors to buy into Retrophin.

in 2014, a website called Biospace was so disgusted by Shkreli's actions in the Retrophin stock scandal that in its review of the year it painted devil's horns on him

Cash money: Shkreli (above) said the parasitic infection that can cause serious and life-threatening problems which the pill treats could mutate, making research necessary

In a motion filed in January 2014, Pierotti claimed that Shkreli wrote a letter to his wife telling her about the lawsuit against her husband.

'Your husband has stolen $1.6 million from me and I will get it back. I will go to any length necessary to get it back,' Shkreli allegedly wrote in the letter.

The letter allegedly continued: 'Your husband's arrogance is infuriating and making an enemy out of me is a huge mistake… I hope to see you and your four children homeless and will do whatever I can to assure this.'

The harassment continued for months after the lawsuit was filed, Pierotti claimed.

He claims Shkreli wrote his wife a Facebook message saying, 'How do you sleep at night? Your husband stole millions from me'.

Shkreli also allegedly texted Pierotti's wife, saying 'hey sweetheart'.

The former hedge funder also allegedly tried to add Pierotti's brother, father and two teenage sons on Facebook.

Pierotti's 16-year-old son asked Shkreli why he wanted to be his friend on the site, and the CEO said, 'Because I want you to know about your dad... he betrayed me. he stole $3million from me'.

Once a report was filed with the Summit Police Department in New Jersey, Shkreli allegedly called Pierotti and left a voicemail apologizing for his potential role in the Pierotti family feeling harassed.

Shkreli initially denied knowing Pierotti when he was approached by a Summit Police officer. He later said he hadn't spoken to Pierotti in at least a year.

Creepy: Along with the Facebook messaged, Pierotti claims that Shkreli also texted his wife, Kristen, 'hey sweetheart'

Too far: Pierotti, pictured top left with an unidentified group of men, claims that Shkreli tried to add his brother, father and two teenage sons on Facebook

'Campaign of harassment': Pierotti, pictured center with an unidentified group of people, claimed that Shkreli first began reaching out to his family members in January 2013

The officer reported that Shkreli said it was impossible for him to have harassed Pierotti, since he hadn't spoken to him in years. Shkreli hung up the phone when the officer warned him not to contact the Pierotti family again, according to an incident report.

Before founding Retrophin and later Turing, Shkreli worked as a hedge funder who at one time was accused of trying to manipulate FDA regulations on drug companies whose stocks he was shorting, according to Gawker.

He worked with companies including Cramer, Berkowitz, & Co and Intrepid Capital Management before founding his own hedge fund when he was in his 20s.

He was once publicly scolded by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, after writing scathing blog posts about companies he was shorting, accusing them of having problems.

Without success, the group urged the Department of Justice to investigate Shkreli after accusing him of 'spreading unfounded and inaccurate rumors about drugs owned by companies he was shorting'.

He was forced out of the last drug company he founded, Retrophin, which specialized in buying the rights to little-known drugs and increasing their prices.

They increased the price of a drug that treats a rare kidney disease by 2,000 per cent, according to Fusion.

Shkreli was brought up in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn, living on the top floor of a six story apartment block, where his parents still live. At least two other family members live in the same 48-apartment building.

A woman who answered the intercom at his parents' apartment told Daily Mail Online 'I don't want to talk about it,' before hanging up.

He attended Hunter College High School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a school for gifted students. Earlier this year he gave $1million to the school, said to be the largest single gift the 101-year-old school had ever received.

Not liked: A website drew devil horns on a photo of Shkreli after he was ousted from Retrophin and put him on the website's 'naughty list' for the stock scandal

On its website, Hunter College School boasts of alumni including 'Tony-Award-winning playwrights, a Major League Baseball general manager, a Supreme Court justice and a CEO of a major pharmaceutical company' — without saying whether that CEO is Shkreli.

At the time, Shkreli said he made the donation because 'Hunter encouraged me to think creatively and to challenge conventional wisdom.'

He later went to Baruch College in Manhattan and landed an internship with CNBC's 'Mad Money' star Jim Cramer's company.

While working with Cramer's company he suggested shorting one biotech company's stock and then suggested the company buy it.

It made Cramer so much money the Securities and Exchange Commission started an investigation which eventually found the firm did nothing wrong.

Cramer, in a tweet on Monday, tried to put the controversy behind him, tweeting: 'Thanks, everyone. I just kept hearing all day about some kid who was an intern at my old shop 15 years ago; I don't even know him. Enough!'

Cramer also said; 'He was never my protege.'

Pierotti still lives in the 2600 sq. ft. single story home that he did when Shkreli allegedly threatened to do all he could to make him, his wife and four children homeless.

Pierotti and his wife bought it in 2005 for $1.326million in 2005. Kristen Pierotti refused to come to the door when Daily Mail Online turned up, sending one of the couple's children to say she would not talk.

Since Turing acquired Daraprim in August, Shkreli has urged the importance of improving Daraprim and said drugs need to be developed for treating neglected tropical diseases.

Reasons: Shkreli also said that in the end he is helping most people as the parasite lies dormant in almost 25% of the population

Origins: Shkreli was raised in a top floor apartment in this building in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn, New York. His parents are immigrants from Albania and Croatia

He has said that the proceeds from the newly high-priced Daraprim will be used to research better treatments and raise awareness for toxoplasmosis, the opportunistic parasitic infection that can cause serious and life-threatening problems, which the drug treats.

The disease is found primarily in babies and people with compromised immune systems, including AIDS and cancer patients.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Shkreli said that the drug would be available to all those who need it, and that even if there was a dispute with an insurer the patient would be sent their pills while things were being sorted.

He was then asked to address whether or not his price hike might lead to competitors making generic versions of the drug to which he responded; 'Sure, and I think that's a great thing. At the end of the day if you look at diseases like myeloma or multiple sclerosis they've been transformed immensely by profit incentive.

'This drug is from the 1940s. We can make a better drug for this disease.'

He went on to say; 'We're spending tens of millions of dollars to make a better version of Daraprim that is more effective, less toxic.

'Daraprim is a very toxic drug, and these patients deserve a drug company that is turning a profit - a fair profit - and is also developing a drug that is better for them. They don't deserve a drug that is 70- years old. They deserve modern medicine that can cure toxoplasmosis quickly.'

Shkreli's price hike sparked outrage from medical groups representing doctors who care for patients with HIV and other infectious diseases, because Daraprim treats patients with compromised immune systems.