
This month marks a decade since Charlie Sheen was booted from his hit series Two and a Half Men. Sheen sued producer Chuck Lorre and Warner Bros. Studios for $100 million over his termination, but his beef was never about money. He was already the highest-paid actor on television at the time, and his fortune was valued at a whopping $150 million. The move seemed to be purely motivated by his bruised ego.
The lawsuit was ultimately settled through arbitration, but perhaps he should have followed through. Charlie Sheen’s net worth has dropped significantly after years of reckless spending. As recently as last year, he resorted to making Cameo videos for money. Find out the details on how Sheen squandered his wealth and what his net worth is today.
Charlie Sheen Earned An Astounding $1.8 Million Per Episode On ‘Two And A Half Men’
Charlie Sheen rose to fame in the 1980s with roles in movies like Platoon, Wall Street, and Major League, but he found bigger success decades later on the small screen. Starting in 2003, he played Charlie Harper on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men.
Sheen starred in the series for eight seasons, and it was a ratings juggernaut, peaking at 24 million viewers during his time on the show. Sheen was very generously compensated for his work—during his final season, he was paid $1.8 million per episode.
Despite being fired from Two and a Half Men for his “dangerously self-destructive conduct,” he briefly continued to hold his position as the highest-paid actor on television. Sheen starred in two seasons of the FX sitcom Anger Management from 2012 to 2014. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Anger Management contract allowed Sheen to take home a smaller per episode paycheck upfront in exchange for nearly 40 percent of the series’ profits. Sheen stood to make between $75 million and $200 million from the show’s 100 episode run.
Charlie Sheen Endured A Wild Lifestyle During His Acting Career
Viewers had plenty of laughs watching Sheen play a hard-partying womanizer on Two and a Half Men. The problem is that his character was rooted in reality.
In 1990, the actor spent a month in rehab for alcoholism. USA TODAY reported that he was engaged to Kelly Preston at the time, but their relationship ended after she was accidentally shot in the arm at their home.
Five years later, he testified that he paid “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss over $50,000 for the company of her employees. Two years later, he pleaded no contest to assaulting his former girlfriend, Brittany Ashland. Following a near-fatal overdose in 1998, Sheen returned to rehab to seek treatment.
The actor’s marriage to Denise Richards in 2002 suggested he had found some stability. But Richards filed for divorce three years later, accusing Sheen of substance abuse and threats of violence. Sheen’s marriage to his third wife, Brooke Mueller, ended similarly. Mueller obtained a restraining order against her ex; at one point, she even had their twin sons removed from his home by police.
Sheen continued to rinse and repeat. For the next few years, he checked in and out of rehab, faced multiple assault charges, and slept with various adult actresses (whom he referred to as his “goddesses”). Things came to a head on November 16, 2015, when Sheen announced that he was HIV positive.
The actor appeared on the Today show and released a public statement explaining his current state. The statement read, “The personal disbelief, karmic confusion, shame, and anger lead to a temporary yet abysmal descent into profound substance abuse and fathomless drinking. It was a suicide run. Problem was, I’d forgotten that I’m too tough for such a cowardly departure.”
In the statement, Sheen went on to describe how he had been blackmailed. “In and around this perplexing and difficult time, I dazedly chose (or hired) the companionship of unsavory and insipid types.” He added, “Sadly, my truth soon became their treason, as a deluge of blackmail and extortion took center stage in this circus of deceit.”
“To date, I have paid out countless millions to these desperate charlatans,” the actor claimed.
While these claims account for some of the money he lost ($10 million, according to his estimate), he also blew it on his vices.
What Did Charlie Sheen Spend His Money On?
According to a source who spoke to Radar Online, much of Sheen’s money went to a lifestyle of drugs and partying.
“For at least the last eight months or so Charlie has been having a quarter to half an ounce of cocaine delivered to him every single day and was spending nearly $2,000 a day on drugs,” the insider said in 2012. “Sometimes he’d even get two to three quarters of cocaine in one day. He snorts it, he smokes it, and then he watches porn. And when he’s not watching porn, he’s hired high-end girls to come over.”
Another source told Radar Online that he burned through half a million dollars on escorts and drugs in a six-month period. He reportedly showered his companions with lavish gifts, like cars, expensive alcohol, and access to private jets.
“Sometimes he’d give his friends that party with him a grand or two just because he thought they were cool,” said a source close to Sheen.
Even without income from Two and a Half Men, Sheen was unafraid of spending. In 2011, GQ reported that the actor spent $1 million on cars in one week. Once, he even rented out the Houston Astrodome just to play ball with friends.
“Most people run out of money, they burn out, whatever, and then they finally hit rock bottom,” said Sheen’s stunt double and longtime friend Eddie Braun. “Charlie is not going to hit rock bottom financially, because he’s got so much money he can’t piss it away. He can go anywhere and have instant ‘friends.’ Just add water and they’re there.”
And then there are his legal responsibilities. According to ABC News, Sheen was ordered to pay Brooke Mueller $55,000 a month in child support; she also received over $750,000 when they split. Denise Richards was also well-compensated for the three years she endured Sheen’s self-destructive lifestyle. Her $40 million payout reportedly included $7 million from their divorce settlement, $20 million in syndication royalties from Sheen’s sitcom, and nearly $10 million in child support.
What Is Charlie Sheen’s Net Worth In 2021?
So just how far did the actor’s star fall? As of 2021, Charlie Sheen’s net worth is estimated to be $10 million. He’s by no means poor, but the figure is a significant drop from his Two and a Half Men heyday.
In 2018, the IRS came knocking for almost $5 million in back taxes. (Oddly enough, he was quick to open his wallet in 2012 and help Linsday Lohan pay $100,000 in tax debts.) Around the same time, he attempted to reduce his child support obligations. In court documents, he claimed that he was unable to find steady work. He listed his average monthly income as $2,426. That year, he also listed his Beverly Hills mansion for just under $10 million. It didn’t sell until 2020, and for a lowball offer of $6.6 million.
Sheen hasn’t worked on screen since 2017. For a while, he turned to social media as a source of income. In March 2011, he joined Twitter and immediately began monetizing with sponsored content. He also joined Cameo last year, charging $300 to make short, customized video clips for fans (and Russian trolls). But in hindsight, Sheen has some regrets about the way he’s handled his career.
“People have [said to] me, ‘Hey, man, that was so cool, that was so fun to watch. That was so cool to be a part of and support and all that energy and, you know, we stuck it to the man,” Sheen told Yahoo Entertainment in February 2021. “My thought behind that is, ‘Oh, yeah, great. I’m so glad that I traded early retirement for a [expletive] hashtag.’
“I just, I have absolute faith that the things I’m going to do professionally in Act 3 are going to put a muzzle on all that stuff and people can celebrate me again for what I actually do for a living,” he concluded.