seminar
A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...
s, and
self-help book
A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from '' Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under "self- ...
s including the books ''
Unlimited Power
''Unlimited Power'' is a self-help book by author and motivational speaker Tony Robbins.
It was published by Fawcett Columbine (Ballantine Books) in 1986.
It was reviewed by ''Publishers Weekly'' and ''Kirkus Reviews, Kirkus''.
References
...
'' and ''Awaken the Giant Within''.
Early life
Robbins was born Anthony J. Mahavoric in
North Hollywood, California
North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...
, on February 29, 1960. Robbins is the eldest of three children, and his parents divorced when he was seven. He is of Croatian heritage from both sides of his family. 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.
Robbins attended
Glendora High School
Glendora High School (GHS) is located in Glendora, Los Angeles County, California, United States.
History
The high school was built in 1958 on land owned by Clarks Gordan, an orange grower. Before it was built, Glendora students attended Citrus ...
. During high school, Robbins grew ten inches in a year, a growth spurt later attributed to a
pituitary tumor
Pituitary adenomas are tumors that occur in the pituitary gland. Most pituitary tumors are benign, approximately 35% are invasive and just 0.1% to 0.2% are carcinomas. He has said his home life was "chaotic" and "abusive". When he was 17 years old, he left home and never returned. Robbins later worked as a janitor, and did not attend college. One day he asked the landlord on site, who was a family friend, about how he became so successful. The landlord then told him that he started to turn his life around after going to a
Jim Rohn
Emanuel James Rohn (September 17, 1930 – December 5, 2009), professionally known as Jim Rohn, was an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker.
Early life
Emanuel James "Jim" Rohn was born in Yakima, Washington, to Emmanuel ...
Jim Rohn
Emanuel James Rohn (September 17, 1930 – December 5, 2009), professionally known as Jim Rohn, was an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker.
Early life
Emanuel James "Jim" Rohn was born in Yakima, Washington, to Emmanuel ...
when he was 17 years old. He subsequently learned to firewalk and incorporated it into his seminars.
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
Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The clu ...
. The soccer team entered competition in 2018.
In 2016, Robbins partnered with Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber and
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
co-owner
Ted Leonsis
Theodore John Leonsis (born January 8, 1957) is an American businessman, investor, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and former politician. He is a former senior executive with America Online (AOL), and the founder, chairman, and CEO of Monument ...
to purchase
Team Liquid
Team Liquid is a multi-regional professional esports organization based in the Netherlands that was founded in 2000. With the release of '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'', Team Liquid signed their first professional players.
In 2012, Team Li ...
, an eSports professional gaming organization.
Robbins has worked on an individual basis with
Justin Tuck
Justin Lee Tuck (born March 29, 1983) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at Notre Dame, and was drafted by the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft, ...
,
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...
, and
Pitbull
Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...
. He has counseled American businessmen
Peter Guber
Howard Peter Guber (born March 1, 1942) is an American business executive, entrepreneur, educator, and author. He is chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Guber's most recent films from Mandalay Entertainment include '' The Kids Are All ...
Marc Benioff
Marc Russell Benioff (born September 25, 1964) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, an enterprise cloud computing company. In September 2018, Benioff acquired ''Time (mag ...
.
Robbins was criticized for comments alluding to the
Me Too movement
#MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...
at a seminar in San Jose, California, on March 15, 2018, when he said: "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". He later posted an apology on his Facebook page.
Philanthropy
In 1991, Robbins founded the Anthony Robbins Foundation, intended to help the young, the homeless, the hungry, the elderly, and the imprisoned. Independent charity watchdog Charity Navigator gave the foundation a rating of four out of four stars in 2017.
In 2014, he donated the profits of his book, ''Money: Master the Game'', along with an additional personal donation, through
Feeding America
Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...
to provide meals to people in need. Robbins works with a water company called Spring Health, which provides fresh water to small villages in rural eastern India to prevent waterborne diseases.
Robbins helped raise money for
Operation Underground Railroad
Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) is a United States-based nonprofit organization which claims to be involved in the rescue of human trafficking and sex trafficking victims, with a special focus on children, and a wider goal of eliminating ...
, a
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
that works with governments to fight against child trafficking and slavery with the assistance of former
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
,
Navy SEALs
The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sm ...
, and
Special operations
Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...
operatives.
Legal issues and controversies
1995 Consumer redress settlement with Federal Trade Commission
In May 1995, Robbins Research International (RRI) settled with the Federal Trade Commission over alleged violations of the agency's
Franchise Rule
The Franchise Rule defines acts or practices that are unfair or deceptive in the franchise industry in the United States. The Franchise Rule is published by the Federal Trade Commission. The Franchise Rule seeks to facilitate informed decisions a ...
. Under the settlement, RRI did not admit to having violated any law, but agreed to pay $221,260 in consumer redress.
2000 Wade Cook copyright lawsuit
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. Cook and Robbins settled for an undisclosed amount.
2001 ''Vancouver Sun'' defamation lawsuit
In 2001, the
British Columbia Supreme Court
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
ruled that ''
The Vancouver Sun
The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published si ...
'' had defamed Robbins when it called him an "adulterous, wife-stealing hypocrite". The court awarded Robbins $20,000 in damages and his legal costs.
2012 and 2016 fire-walking injuries
In July 2012, the ''
San Jose Mercury News
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
'' 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. Aspects of these reports were later challenged by Robbins himself along with some of the on-site medical professionals.
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". 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. 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."
2019 sexual harassment and abuse allegations
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 and exposing his genitals to his assistants. 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."
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. Other media outlets also reported on these allegations. 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.
Television and film
In July 2010,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
debuted "Breakthrough with Tony Robbins", a reality show that followed Robbins as he helped the show's participants face their personal challenges. NBC canceled the show after airing two of the planned six episodes due to low viewership of 2.8 million. 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. In April 2012, Robbins began cohosting '' Oprah's Lifeclass'' on the OWN Network.
In 2015, filmmaker
Joe Berlinger
Joseph Berlinger (born October 30, 1961) is an American documentary filmmaker and producer. Particularly focused on true crime documentaries, Berlinger's films and docu-series draw attention to social justice issues in the US and abroad in such ...
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. It premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2016. The documentary was translated into languages for 190 countries and released by
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
on July 15, 2016.
Personal life
In 1984, Robbins married Rebecca Jenkins after meeting her at a seminar. Jenkins had three children from two former marriages, whom Robbins adopted. Robbins and Jenkins filed for divorce in 1998.
In 1984, Robbins fathered a child with former girlfriend Liz Acosta. Their son, Jairek Robbins, is also a personal empowerment coach and trainer.
In October 2001, Robbins married Bonnie Humphrey. They live in
Manalapan, Florida
Manalapan is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 406 at the 2010 United States census.
History
United States President Benjamin Harrison granted George H. K. Carter a homestead in 1889 on the yet unnamed lan ...
.
Robbins was a
vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...