It’s been over 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.
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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 ’80s 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 Had A Wild Lifestyle During His 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.
His Relationship Woes
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, with whom he had two children, 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.
Rehab, Blackmail, And A Life-Changing Diagnosis
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.”
The actor claimed to have paid millions to his blackmailers.
While these claims account for some of the money he lost ($10 million, according to his estimate), he also blew it on his vices.
Outlandish Purchases And Bad Money Management
There are multiple reports across the internet that will share the different ways Sheen spent his money. Most unrevealed sources claim it went to an extremely debaucherous lifestyle, including drugs, sex, and presumably some rock & roll.
Even after losing the 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.
In 2016, he 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.
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 Lindsay Lohan pay $100,000 in tax debts).
Legal Woes And Child Support
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. In April 2022, it was reported that Sheen had finally settled his ongoing child support case with Mueller. According to legal documents, Sheen had agreed to an undisclosed financial arrangement in order to close the case.
Denise Richards was also well-compensated for the three years she endured Sheen’s self-destructive lifestyle. Her $40 million payouts reportedly included $7 million from their divorce settlement, $20 million in syndication royalties from Sheen’s sitcom, and nearly $10 million in child support.
However, in October 2021, Sheen lucked out when the judge overseeing the child support case ruled that he was no longer obligated to pay Richards’ child support. It came as a shock to Richards, especially since Sheen had been postponing the court date for over two years.
However, it was revealed by Sheen’s attorney that he has set up a $1.2 million dollar trust fund for his daughters. It was revealed in the same article that his daughters have actually been living with him more, after a fallout with Richards in early 2021.
Sheen’s legal woes didn’t end with the child support saga. In August of 2022, it was announced that Sheen reached a $120,000 settlement in a 2017 lawsuit filed by an ex claiming that he gave her HIV. According to the plaintiff, Sheen knew he was HIV-positive when he began a sexual relationship with her. The lawsuit was not the first filed against Sheen for the same reason.
Charlie Sheen’s Net Worth And Career Today
So just how far did the actor’s star fall? As of 2022, 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.
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 in 2022, charging $300 to make short, customized video clips for fans. 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.