Anthony Jay Robbins 

(born Anthony J. Mahavoric; February 29, 1960) is an American author,

coach, speaker, and philanthropist.[1] He is known for his infomercials, seminars, and self-help
books including the books Unlimited Power (published in 1987) and Awaken the Giant
Within (published in 1993).[2][3] His seminars are organized through Robbins Research International.[4]

Contents

 1Early life
 2Career
 3Teachings
 4Philanthropy
 5Legal issues and controversies
o 5.11995 Consumer Redress Settlement with Federal Trade Commission
o 5.22000 Wade Cook copyright lawsuit
o 5.32001 Vancouver Sun defamation lawsuit
o 5.42012 and 2016 fire-walking injuries
o 5.52019 sexual harassment and abuse allegations
 6Television and film
 7Personal life
 8Associated people
 9Select bibliography
 10References
 11External links

Early life[edit]
Robbins was born as Anthony J. Mahavoric in North Hollywood, California, on February 29, 1960.
[5]
 Robbins is the eldest of three children, and his parents divorced when he was 7. He is
of Croatian heritage from both sides of his family.[6] His mother then remarried several times,
including a marriage with Jim Robbins, a former semi-professional baseball player who legally
adopted Anthony when he was 12.[5]
During high school, Robbins grew ten inches, a growth spurt later attributed to a pituitary tumor.[5] He
has said his home life was "chaotic" and "abusive". When he was seventeen years old, he left home
and never returned.[5] Robbins later worked as a janitor, and did not attend college.[5]

Career[edit]
Robbins began promoting seminars for motivational speaker and author Jim Rohn when he was 17
years old.[7][8][9]
In the early 1980s, Robbins, a practitioner of neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and Ericksonian
hypnosis, partnered with NLP co-founder John Grinder.[9] He subsequently learned to firewalk and
incorporated it into his seminars.[10]
In 1988, Robbins released his first infomercial for his self-help program "Personal Power", which was
produced by Guthy Renker.[11]
In 1997, Robbins launched the Leadership Academy seminar.[12][13]
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.[13][14]
In 2014, Robbins joined a group of investors to acquire rights to launch a Major League
Soccer franchise in Los Angeles referred to as the Los Angeles Football Club. The soccer team
entered competition in 2018.[15][16][17]
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.[18] In 2017 Team Liquid won The International 7, a Dota 2 tournament with a prize pool
of over $24 million.[19]
Robbins has worked on an individual basis with Bill Clinton,[20] Justin Tuck,[21] Wayne Gretzky, Serena
Williams,[22] Hugh Jackman,[23] and Pitbull.[24] He has counseled American businessmen Peter
Guber, Steve Wynn, and Marc Benioff.[25] He was named one of the "Top 50 Business Intellectuals"
by Accenture[26] and one of the "Top 200 Business Gurus" by the Harvard Business Press,[27] and in
2007 was ranked on the Forbes Celebrity 100.[28]
Robbins was criticized for comments alluding to the Me Too movement at a seminar in San Jose,
California, on March 15, 2018:[29][30] "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".[29] He later posted an apology on his Facebook page.[31]

Teachings[edit]
Robbins holds multiple seminars annually, most of them with a "self-help" and "positive thinking"
theme, with a fire walk mindset practice, exercises for strengthening your beliefs, audience
participation and physical exercises.[32]

Philanthropy[edit]
In 1991, Robbins founded the Anthony Robbins Foundation,[33] intended to help the young, the
homeless, the hungry, the elderly, and the imprisoned.[34][35][non-primary source needed]
Independent charity watchdog Charity Navigator gave the foundation a rating of four out of four stars
in 2017.[36][non-primary source needed]
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.[37][38][39] Robbins also
donated profits from Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook to Feeding America.
[40]
 Robbins works with a water company called Spring Health, which provides fresh water to small
villages in rural eastern India to prevent waterborne diseases.[41]
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.[42]

Legal issues and controversies[edit]

1995 Consumer Redress Settlement with Federal Trade
Commission[edit]
In May 1995, Robbins Research International (RRI) settled with the Federal Trade Commission over
alleged violations of the agency's Franchise Rule. Under the settlement, RRI did not admit to having
violated any law, but agreed to pay $221,260 in consumer redress.[43]

2000 Wade Cook copyright lawsuit[edit]

Wade Cook sued Robbins for allegedly using copyrighted terms from Cook's book Wall Street
Money Machine in his seminars. In 2000, a jury awarded Cook a $655,900 judgement, which was
appealed.[44][45] Cook and Robbins settled for an undisclosed amount.[46][47]

2001 Vancouver Sun defamation lawsuit[edit]

In 2001, the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled that The Vancouver Sun had defamed Robbins
when it called him an "adulterous, wife-stealing hypocrite". The court awarded Robbins $20,000 in
damages and his legal costs.[48][49]

2012 and 2016 fire-walking injuries[edit]

In July 2012, the San Jose Mercury News published a story reporting that multiple people had been
burned and hospitalized during one of Robbins's fire-walking events on July 19, 2012. This story was
picked up by other media outlets, including Fox News, The New York Times, and CNN.[50][51] These
reports were later retracted as inaccurate.[52] A corrective article was published by The Huffington
Post.[53][54]
On June 24, 2016, it was reported that "dozens were burned and required medical attention after
attempting to walk on hot coals during a fire-walking event at a Tony Robbins seminar in Dallas,
Texas".[55] Several attendees were transported to medical facilities to treat burns, and a bus was used
as a staging-area for between 30 and 40 people who were less seriously hurt.[55] A spokeswoman for
the Robbins organization stated, "Someone unfamiliar with the process of the fire-walk called 911
reporting the need for emergency service vehicles […] there was no need for emergency personnel
[…] only 5 of 7,000 participants requested an examination beyond what was readily available on
site."[56]

2019 sexual harassment and abuse allegations[edit]

In May 2019, an investigation by BuzzFeed News detailed accusations against Robbins of his sexual
harassment of fans and staff members, such as groping fans at events, exposing his genitals to his
assistants, and sexually harassing fans.[57][58] As of that time, nine women had publicly accused
Robbins of sexual misconduct.[59] Robbins denied the allegations and also stated, "I have been the
target of a year-long investigation by BuzzFeed. Unfortunately, your organization has made it clear
to my team that you intend to move forward with publishing an inaccurate, agenda-driven version of
the past, pierced with falsehoods."[60]
In November 2019, BuzzFeed News published a six-part article accusing Robbins of molesting a
teenage girl during his time as a "star speaker" at SuperCamp, an elite summer camp in southern
California. The article claims the events took place in 1985 when Robbins was 25, and that there
were at least two eyewitnesses.[61] Other media outlets also reported on these allegations.[62][63]
[64]
 Robbins denied wrongdoing and filed suit on BuzzFeed News in Ireland. In response, BuzzFeed
News said that they stand by their reporting and suggested that Robbins's decision to file the
summons in Ireland was an "abuse" of the Irish court.[65]

Television and film[edit]

Robbins played cameo roles in the film Reality Bites, The Cable Guy,[66] and also in the 2001
film Shallow Hal.[67] 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.[68]
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.[69][70] NBC canceled the show
after airing two of the planned six episodes due to low viewership of 2.8 million.[71] 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.[72][73] In April 2012, Robbins began
cohosting Oprah's Lifeclass on the OWN Network.[74]
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.[75] It premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2016[76] and
opened the American Documentary Film Festival (AmDocs) in Palm Springs in February 2016.[77] The
documentary was translated into languages for 190 countries and released by Netflix on July 15,
2016.[75][78]

Personal life[edit]
In 1984, Robbins married Rebecca "Becky" Jenkins after meeting her at a seminar.[79][80][81] Jenkins
had three children from two former marriages, whom Robbins adopted. Robbins and Jenkins filed for
divorce in 1998.[81]
In 1984, Robbins fathered a child with former girlfriend Liz Acosta. Their son, Jairek Robbins, is also
a personal empowerment coach and trainer.[82]
In October 2001, Robbins married Bonnie "Sage" Robbins (née Humphrey).[83] They live
in Manalapan, Florida.[84]
Robbins was a vegan for 12 years, he then added fish to his diet.[85] Whilst eating a fish-heavy diet he
developed mercury poisoning and nearly died.[86] His diet now consists of mostly vegetables with a
small amount of animal protein.[86]