Tony Robbins

Robbins was born as Anthony J. Mahavoric in North Hollywood, California, on February 29, 1960.[7] Robbins is the eldest of three children and his parents divorced when he was 7. His mother then remarried (more than once), including a marriage with Jim Robbins, a former semi-professional baseball player who legally adopted Anthony when he was 12.[7]

During high school, Robbins grew ten inches, a growth spurt later attributed to a pituitary tumor.[7] He has said his home life was "chaotic" and "abusive". When he was seventeen years old, he left home and never returned.[7] Robbins later worked as a janitor, and did not attend college.[7]

Robbins began promoting seminars for motivational speaker and author Jim Rohn when he was 17 years old.[8][9][10]

In the early 1980s, Robbins, a practitioner of neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and Ericksonian hypnosis, partnered with NLP co-founder John Grinder.[10] He subsequently learned to firewalk and incorporated it into his seminars.[11]

In 1988 Robbins released his first infomercial for his self-help program "Personal Power," which was produced by Guthy Renker.[12]

In 1997, Robbins launched the Leadership Academy seminar.[13][14]

Together with Cloé Madanes, Robbins founded the Robbins-Madanes Center for Intervention, an organization that trains life skills coaches to help families and individuals deal with addiction and other issues.[14][15]

In 2014, Robbins joined a group of investors to acquire rights to launch a Major League Soccer franchise in Los Angeles, California, referred to as the Los Angeles Football Club. The soccer team entered competition in 2018.[16][17][18]

In 2016, Robbins partnered with Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber and Washington Wizards co-owner Ted Leonsis to purchase Team Liquid, an eSports professional gaming organization.[19] In 2017 Team Liquid won The International 7, a Dota 2 tournament with a prize pool of over $24 million.[20]

Robbins has worked on an individual basis with Bill Clinton,[21] Justin Tuck,[22] Wayne Gretzky, Serena Williams,[23] Hugh Jackman,[24] and Pitbull.[25] He has counseled American businessmen Peter Guber, Steve Wynn, and Marc Benioff.[26] He was named one of the "Top 50 Business Intellectuals" by Accenture[27] and one of the "Top 200 Business Gurus" by the Harvard Business Press,[28] and in 2007 was ranked on the Forbes Celebrity 100.[29]

Robbins was criticized for comments alluding to the Me Too movement at a seminar in San Jose, California, on March 15, 2018:[30][31] "If you use the #MeToo movement to try to get significance and certainty by attacking and destroying someone else . . . all you've done is basically use a drug called significance to make yourself feel good." He went on to tell a story about a "very powerful man" who passed on hiring a female candidate even though she was the most qualified because she was too attractive and would be "too big a risk".[30] He later posted an apology on his Facebook page.[32]

In 1991, Robbins founded the Anthony Robbins Foundation,[34] intended to help the young, the homeless, the hungry, the elderly, and the imprisoned.[35][36]

Independent charity watchdog Charity Navigator gave the foundation a rating of four out of four stars in 2017.[37]

In 2014, he donated the profits of his book, Money: Master the Game, along with an additional personal donation, through Feeding America to provide meals to people in need.[38][39][40] Robbins also donated profits from Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook to Feeding America.[41] Robbins works with a water company called Spring Health, which provides fresh water to small villages in rural eastern India to prevent waterborne diseases.[42]

Robbins helped raise money for Operation Underground Railroad, a nonprofit organization that works with governments to fight against child trafficking and slavery with the assistance of former CIA, Navy SEALs, and Special Ops operatives.[43]

Robbins played cameo roles in the film Reality Bites, The Cable Guy,[69] and also in the 2001 film Shallow Hal.[70] He appeared in The Roseanne Show and in an episode of The Sopranos. He plays himself in the 2010 documentary film The Singularity Is Near: A True Story About the Future.[71]

Robbins was lampooned in the Family Guy episodes "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" and "Pal Stewie".

In July 2010, NBC debuted "Breakthrough with Tony Robbins", a reality show that followed Robbins as he helped the show's participants face their personal challenges.[72][73] NBC canceled the show after airing two of the planned six episodes due to low viewership of 2.8 million.[74] In March 2012, the OWN Network picked up the show for another season beginning with the original first season set to re-run and thereafter leading directly into the new 2012 season.[75][76] In April 2012, Robbins began cohosting Oprah's Lifeclass on the OWN Network.[77]

In 2015, filmmaker Joe Berlinger directed and produced the documentary Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru, about the Tony Robbins event "Date with Destiny" after filming it in Boca Raton, Florida, in December 2014.[78] It premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2016[79] and opened the American Documentary Film Festival (AmDocs) in Palm Springs in February 2016.[80] The documentary was translated into languages for 190 countries and released by Netflix on July 15, 2016.[78][81]

In 1984, Robbins married Rebecca "Becky" Jenkins after meeting her at a seminar.[82][83][84] Jenkins had three children from two former marriages, whom Robbins adopted. Robbins and Jenkins filed for divorce in 1998.[84]

In 1984, Robbins fathered a child with former girlfriend Liz Acosta. The son, Jairek Robbins, is also a personal empowerment coach and trainer.[85]

In October 2001, Robbins married Bonnie "Sage" Robbins (née Humphrey).[86] They live in Manalapan, Florida.[87]

• Cloé Madanes[88]

• Unlimited Power (1986). Free Press. ISBN 0-684-84577-6.
• Awaken the Giant Within (1991). Free Press. ISBN 0671791540.
• Giant Steps (1994). Touchstone. ISBN 0671891049.
• Money: Master the Game (2014). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1476757801.
• Co-authored with Peter Mallouk (2017). Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1501164589.

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• Official website
• Anthony Robbins at IMDb