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Anthony Robbins was born As Anthony J. Mahavoric in North Hollywood, California, on February 29, 1960.[3] His surname was originally spelled 'Mohorović' and is of Croatian origin. Robbins is the eldest of three children and his parents divorced when he was 7. His mother then had a series of husbands, including Jim Robbins, a former semiprofessional baseball player who legally adopted Anthony when he was 12.

His father could not provide for their family, so he left them. His mother started abusing alcohol and prescription drugs sometime after. While growing up, Robbins was a primary care-giver, and helped provide for his siblings. Robbins was raised in Azusa and Glendora, California. He was elected student body president in his senior year and grew 10 inches in high school, a growth spurt later attributed to a pituitary tumor[citation needed]. He has said his home life was "chaotic" and "abusive." When he was 17 years old, Robbins' mother chased him out of the house with a knife, and he never returned.[3] Robbins later worked as a janitor, and did not attend college.


Robbins began his career promoting seminars for Jim Rohn.

Later, without any educational background in psychology, Robbins began his own work as a self-help coach. He taught neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and Ericksonian hypnosis after training with NLP co-founder John Grinder[citation needed]. In 1983, Robbins learned to firewalk and began to incorporate it into his seminars.[6] Robbins' use of board breaking, skydiving, and later firewalking in his seminars is intended to help participants learn to push through their fears.

Robbins promoted his services as a "peak performance coach" through his books and TV infomercials. His first infomercial, Personal Power, was released in 1988 and produced by Guthy Renker.[8] Early infomercials featured celebrities such as Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton and actor Martin Sheen.[9] By 1991, an estimated 100 million Americans in 200 media markets had viewed his infomercials.

In 1997, Robbins began the Leadership Academy seminar.[10] Robbins is a featured speaker on the seminar circuit sponsored by Learning Annex. Robbins appeared as a featured speaker at the 2006 Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference. As of May 2016, his talk was the seventh-most viewed TED talk.

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."

In 2014, Robbins, along with a group of investors including Magic Johnson, Mia Hamm, and Peter Guber, acquired rights to launch a Major League Soccer franchise in Los Angeles, California. The team is scheduled to begin competition in 2017.


Robbins has written three best-selling books: Unlimited Power, Awaken the Giant Within, and Money: Master the Game.

Unlimited Power, published in 1986, discusses the topics of health and energy, overcoming fears, persuasive communication, and enhancing relationships.[14] In the book, Robbins argues that by using neuro-linguistic programming "anyone can become successful at almost anything."[15] According to Magill Book Reviews, Robbins develops "a systematic framework for directing our own brain."

Awaken the Giant Within, published in 1991, according to The New York Times, the book contains "ways to take control of your emotional, physical and financial destiny." In 1994, Robbins published Giant Steps, a daily instructional book, in a pocket size. His third best-seller, Money: Master the Game, was published in 2014, reached number one on the New York Times' "Advice, How-To, & Miscellaneous" bestseller list in December 2014, and went on to sell a million copies in its first year.[18][19] The book contains information stemming from his interviews with over 50 financial experts