Anthony "Tony" Robbins

Tony Robbins in 2009

Born February 29, 1960 (age 54)
North Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation Peak performance coach
Self-help author
Professional speaker
Actor
Years active 1978present
Spouse(s) Becky Robbins (m. 19822001)
Sage Robbins (m. 2001)

Early life[edit]
Robbins was born Anthony J. Mahavorick in North Hollywood, California, on February 29, 1960. His
surname was originally spelled 'Mohorovic' and is of Croatian origin. Robbins later moved to Azusa,
California and attended Glendora High School. He did not attend college. An article
in Playboy magazine states that "Robbins was raised in a violent household by a volatile mother
addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol. After she kicked him out of the house when he was 17,
he worked as a door-to-door repairman. By the age of 24 he was a millionaire, trading in his
Volkswagen for a Rolls-Royce."
[3]

Career[edit]
Robbins began his career promoting seminars for Jim Rohn. According to Robbins, Rohn taught him
that "happiness and success in life are not the result of what we have, but rather of how we live.
What we do with the things we have makes the biggest difference in the quality of life."
[4]

Later Robbins began his own work as a self-help coach. He taught neuro-linguistic
programming (NLP) and Ericksonian Hypnosis after training with NLP co-founder John Grinder. In
1983, Robbins learned to firewalk from Tolly Burkan
[5]
and began to incorporate it into his
seminars.
[6][7]

Robbins promoted his services as a "peak performance coach" through his books and
TV infomercials, gaining strong public recognition and lucrative sales. He gained wide exposure
through infomercials advertising his Personal Power series of self-help audiotapes.
In 1997, Robbins began the Leadership Academy seminar, in which participants learn to "[c]reate an
identity for them self as someone who can help 'anyone', no matter what his/her challenge may
be."
[8]
Robbins is a featured speaker on the seminar circuit sponsored by Learning Annex. Robbins
appeared as a featured speaker at the 2007 Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED)
conference. As of August 2012, his talk was the 6th most popular TED talk.
[9]

Robbins is involved with the Robbins-Madanes Center for Strategic Intervention, which focuses on
personal, family and organizational psychology, and claims to help people "find breakthrough
strategies and solutions for overcoming the problems that confront us all."
[10]

Books[edit]
Robbins has published two best-selling books, Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within.
Unlimited Power, published in 1987, discusses the topics of health and energy, overcoming fears,
persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships.
[11]
Some reviewers dispute the book's
originality, pointing to ideological similarities with Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence
People, Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking, Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow
Rich, and Maxwell Maltz's Psycho-Cybernetics.
Awaken the Giant Within, published in 1991, was an expansion of his personal development
techniques and strategies taught through a motivational self-help type approach.
[12]

Teachings[edit]
Throughout his writings, seminars and speeches Robbins espouses viewpoints, techniques and other
practices he asserts can help adherents improve their lives. Among these are methods he calls the
"controlling state" and "neuro-associative conditioning." He also speaks a great deal about various
"human needs, influences that affect people, the power of making decisions" and the need to
achieve "emotional mastery." He espouses a concept he calls "Life's Two Master Lessons" which he
claims are (1) "The science of achievement" and (2) "The art of fulfillment."
[13]

Teachings on health and energy[edit]
One chapter of Unlimited Power, called "Energy: The Fuel of Excellence", is dedicated to a discussion
of health and energy. It endorses the Fit For Life program of Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, food
combining, and deep breathing. Robbins refers to Harvey and Marilyn Diamond as his "former
partners".
[14]
The National Council Against Health Fraud wrote a highly critical review of the
chapter.
[15][16]

Later in his career, in his audio product Living Health, Robbins changed his teachings on health
slightly. He attributes this change to the influence of Robert O. Young. In Living Health, he
endorses natural hygiene, the alkaline diet, live blood analysis, and the works of Peter
Duesberg and Antoine Bchamp.
Anthony Robbins Foundation[edit]
In 1991 Robbins launched a charity, the Anthony Robbins Foundation.
[17]
It is dedicated to
empowering students and prisoners through food drives and learning programs based on his
teachings.
[18]
According to the official website, the foundation has "products and programs in more
than 2,000 schools, 700 prisons, and 100,000 health and human service organizations."
[19]
These
programs have been written about and featured in many dozens of articles. They have appeared on
various websites, like Cherish Our Children International
[20]
and Harmony With No Limits.
[21]
The
independent charity watchdog, Charity Navigator, gives the foundation a rating of three out of four
stars.
[22]
The official website states that "the Foundation is committed to make a difference in the
quality of life for children, the homeless, the prison population, and the elderly through its various
programs". The foundation has subsequently led to the forming of "Basket Brigades" across the
world that occur each Thanksgiving. Individuals and groups have joined together to assemble and
deliver dinner baskets to needy families.
[17]

Controversy[edit]
Lawsuits[edit]
Federal Trade Commission: In May 1995, Robbins Research International (RRI) responded to Federal
Trade Commission charges of misrepresentation of potential earnings to franchise investors. RRI and
the FTC entered into a stipulated settlement agreement, in which RRI agreed to pay 221,260 USD in
consumer redress. RRI did not admit guilt under the settlement.
[23]

Wade Cook: Financial seminar guru Wade Cook also sued Robbins for copyright infringement and
plagiarism, alleging that Robbins used proprietary terms in his seminars and in his book Wall Street
Money Machine. In 1998 a Tacoma, Washington, jury ordered Robbins to pay Cook US$650,900 in
damages. The order to pay damages was temporarily withdrawn
[24]
until 2000, when the 9th Circuit
Court ruled that the trial judge had misinterpreted the statutes.
The verdict and damages were reinstated with a statement that "The Court found that U.S. District
Court Judge, Jack Tanner, erred in "finding a conclusion contrary to the jury award" and sent
instructions to reinstate the award. "This is a landmark decision by the 9th Circuit Court because of
the high profile players and issues at stake" said lead attorney and Wade Cook General Counsel, Troy
Romero. "The Court is telling individuals that, no matter who you are, the protection of
copyrightable material will be preserved." Robbins was forced to pay the entire amount.
[25]

In 2001 Robbins filed a lawsuit against The Vancouver Sun newspaper, alleging defamation and libel.
The judge determined the Vancouver Sun defamed Robbins when it called him a "adulterous, wife-
stealing hypocrite". Awarding Robbins $20,000 in damages, the judge wrote "While damages are
presumed, the plaintiff's failure to take the witness stand and to testify about his feelings and the
impact of the defamation upon his reputation leaves the court somewhat in the dark about these
matters". The court awarded Robbins his attorneys' fees and costs in addition to damages.
[26][27]

2012 Firewalking event[edit]
In July 2012, the San Jose Mercury News published a report multiple people being burned and
hospitalized during one of Robbins' firewalking events on July 19, 2012. This story was picked up by
other media outlets including Fox News. These reports were later retracted as inaccurate. On August
8, 2012, Fox News' program Fox & Friends issued an on-air retraction and correction to the
inaccurate report.
[28]
A similar corrective article was published by The Huffington Post.
[29][30]

Celebrity status[edit]
Television and film[edit]
Robbins has had cameo roles in the 1996 movie The Cable Guy, the 2001 movie Shallow Hal, the
1994 movie Reality Bites, three episodes of The Roseanne Show, and an episode of The
Sopranos.
[31]
He plays himself in the 2010 film The Singularity Is Near: A True Story about The Future.
He was lampooned in episode 22 of season 3 of Family Guy.
[32]
In Men In Black, there is an array of
screens in the headquarters monitoring aliens masquerading as humans. One of these screens shows
Robbins.
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.
[33][34]
NBC canceled the show, after
airing two of the planned six episodes, due to low viewership of 2.8 million.
[35]
In March 2012
the OWN Network picked the show up for another season beginning with the original first season set
to re-run and thereafter leading directly into the new 2012 season.
[36]

In April 2012 Robbins began co-hosting Oprah's Lifeclass on the OWN Network.
[37]

Personal life[edit]
Marriages and relationships[edit]
Robbins' was married to Becky Jenkins from 19822001. Jenkins had three children from two former
marriages.
[38]
In 1984 while married to his first wife, Robbins and girlfriend Liz Acosta had a
son, Jairek Robbins who is also a motivational speaker.
[39]
Robbins and his first wife were divorced in
June 2001. Later that same year he married aspiring actress Bonnie Humphrey, now known as Sage
Robbins.
[40]

Robbins sells Ultimate Relationships and Crazy Love Making programs designed to teach people how
to create "outstanding relationships."
[41]

Spiritual beliefs[edit]
Robbins alluded to his personal belief in a higher power in Unlimited Power, giving the grand
complexity of life as evidence of an intelligent designer.
[42]
In a public speaking event, the Unleash
the Power Within program, attended by over a thousand people, Robbins said: "I personally am a
Christian."
[43]

Health issues[edit]
Robbins reportedly learned he had a brain tumor in 1994 though he did not provide specific medical
details or verification. He has incorporated his personal experiences related to this ordeal into his
public speaking.
[44]