Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins in 2009
Born	Anthony J. Mahavoric (1960-02-29) February 29, 1960 (age 57) North Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Businessman Author Philanthropist
Years active	1978–present
Spouse(s)	Becky Robbins (m. 1982–2001) Sage Robbins (m. 2001)

Tony Robbins (born Anthony J. Mahavoric; February 29, 1960) is an American businessman, author, and philanthropist. He became well known from his infomercials and self-help books: Unlimited Power, Unleash the Power Within and Awaken the Giant Within.

In 2007, he was named in Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list, earning an estimated $30 million annually.

Robbins was born Anthony J. Mahavoric in North Hollywood, California, on February 29, 1960. His surname was originally spelled 'Mohorović' and is of Croatian origin. Robbins is the oldest 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 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. 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. 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. In 1983, Robbins learned to firewalk and began to incorporate it into his seminars. Robbins' use of board breaking, skydiving, and later firewalking in his seminars is intended to help participants learn to push through their fears.