Charlie Sheen: How Much Money Does He Need?

A friend says there are three options left for Sheen: "rehab, jail or death."

ByABC News
March 7, 2011, 1:58 AM

March 7, 2011— -- Without his nearly $2-million-per-episode salary from "Two and a Half Men," Charlie Sheen has been forced to find new ways to score some cash.

Once TV's highest-paid sitcom star, Sheen has reportedly inked a deal with Ad.ly to endorse products on Twitter.

Sheen told TMZ his primary motivation for joining Twitter last week was that it's a "cash cow." And, as he pointed out to TMZ, "I'm unemployed."

The unemployed actor was off to a strong start. In just over a day, he attracted 1.1 million followers, setting a new Guinness world record.

Ad.ly's CEO told The Hollywood Reporter that Sheen could make $1 million a year as a celebrity tweeter. That's chump change compared to what the actor was making before CBS postponed his show, a reported $2 million per episode.

Another business opportunity for Sheen has been proffered by Mark Cuban's HDNet cablet network. Cuban described Sheen as "somebody that everybody has a whole lot of interest in who is doing some interesting things, to say the least, according to AP."

CLICK HERE to See Charlie Sheen's Celebrity 'Cabinet'

With four young children to support, the actor needs money more than ever, especially since his spending habits haven't changed. Sheen is reportedly purchasing a new $7.5 million home in Beverly Hills, Calif. According to GQ magazine, Sheen spent more than $1 million on new cars during his first week in rehab last month, adding to an already large collection.

His other purchases, according to GQ, include renting out the Astrodome so "a few friends" could take "batting practice," and paying porn star Kacey Jordan $30,000 for a party he held at his home in January.

Sheen's friend Eric Braun told the magazine that Sheen has so much money he can't "piss it away." "Most people run out of money, they burn out and then they finally hit rock bottom," Braun said, but those close to Sheen worry that "Charlie is not going to hit rock bottom financially." Braun believes "there are just three options" left for his friend: "rehab, jail or death."

Sheen's No. 1 concern, though, is getting back to work. With the future of his No. 1 sitcom in jeopardy, Sheen has said he would demand $3 million an episode from his CBS bosses if they wanted him back. Then he later told CNN's Piers Morgan he was just joking.

He's serious about being paid for the remainder of this season, however. According to Radar Online, Sheen's attorney, Marty Singer, sent a threatening letter to CBS and to Warner Bros., the show's producer, demanding that Sheen be paid for the remaining eight episodes of the season or there would be legal action.

Is Sheen just crying poor, or does he really need the money? Living in the fast lane doesn't come cheap. Below, an accounting of some of Sheen's biggest debts and assets:

Sheen is still driving in style.

He arrived at the Piers Morgan interview in a $500,000 Maybach. When his 2009 Mercedes-Benz ended up at the bottom of a cliff off Mulholland Drive last February, he went out and got a 2010 Mercedes-Benz. That one was found at the foot of a cliff five months later. (Maybe that's when he got the Maybach or stopped leaving the keys in his cars when they were parked in his open garage.) Plus, there's the more than $1 million he spent on cars during his lastest round of rehab, according to GQ.