Andrew Tobias (born April 20, 1947) is an American writer. He has written extensively about investment, as well as politics, insurance, and other topics. He is also known for writing ''The Best Little Boy in the World'', a 1973 memoir – originally

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

ous – about life as a gay man. From 1999 until 2017, he was treasurer of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

Education

Tobias graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1968 with a BA in

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

and literature. In 1972, he obtained his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Writing

While in business school, he wrote for ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

'', and after graduation became a

contributing editor A contributing editor is a newspaper, magazine or online job title that varies in its responsibilities. Often, but not always, a contributing editor is a "high-end" freelancer, consultant, or expert who has proven ability and has readership dra ...

. In 1973, Tobias wrote ''The Best Little Boy in the World'', an autobiography in which he spoke of his experiences as a gay boy and young man. He published it under the pen name "John Reid" to avoid the repercussions of being openly gay, though the book was republished in 1998 under his real name, to coincide with a sequel, ''The Best Little Boy in the World Grows Up''. Although he has never held a job in the investment industry, he has written extensively on the subject, including '' The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need'', ''The Only Other Investment Guide You'll Ever Need'', ''My Vast Fortune'', ''Money Angles'', ''The Invisible Bankers: Everything the Insurance Industry Never Wanted You to Know'', and ''The Funny Money Game''. He parlayed his writings and advice into success in the software industry with his ''Andrew Tobias's Managing Your Money'' financial application. Tobias has written books on other topics, which include ''Fire and Ice: The Charles Revson/Revlon Story'', ''Getting By on $100,000 a Year'', a collection of magazine pieces; ''Auto Insurance Alert'', a book proposing radical insurance reform; ''Kids Say Don't Smoke'' on the efforts of tobacco companies to sell cigarettes to younger consumers (which was also published in Russian). After leaving ''New York Magazine'' in 1976, he was a contributing editor to ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', then ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', and ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

''.

Politics

In 1999, he became treasurer of the

. He spearheaded a

ballot initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...

to convert California's auto insurance system into a no-fault system which would be paid for through a gasoline surcharge instead of premiums. He wrote a book on the topic. He also funded a large part of the campaign himself.

Personal life

Tobias was the partner of fashion designer and Democratic political activist

Charles Nolan Charles Nolan (June 5, 1957 – January 30, 2011) was an American fashion designer. He was the fifth in a family of nine children and was raised in the New York City borough of Brooklyn and the New York City suburb of Massapequa, Long Island. Nol ...

, who died on January 30, 2011. Tobias was grand marshal of the 2005

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

Pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

. He was president and CEO of Harvard Student Agencies in 1967–68 while residing in Winthrop House. Tobias was interviewed in Jill Salvino's documentary film '' Between the Shades''.

Awards

* 1984

Gerald Loeb Award The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was estab ...

for Magazines for a series on personal finance in ''

''.

References

External links

* *
Andrew Tobias' political donations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobias, Andrew 1947 births Living people Harvard College alumni American finance and investment writers American male journalists Journalists from New York City American gay writers Horace Mann School alumni Democratic National Committee people Harvard Business School alumni Gerald Loeb Award winners for Magazines Gay memoirists 21st-century American LGBT people Democratic National Committee treasurers