Tony Robbins: From Teenage Janitor to Fire Walks, Acromegaly and Lawsuits

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Tony Robbins was born Anthony J. Mahavoric in North Hollywood, California, in 1960, the eldest of three children. His parents divorced when he was seven, his mother remarried several times, and stepfather Jim Robbins, a former semi-professional baseball player, adopted him at 12. Robbins has described his home as chaotic and abusive. He left at 17, worked as a janitor, and that same year went to work for motivational speaker Jim Rohn. He added neuro-linguistic programming and fire walking to his own seminars, and his books Unlimited Power (1986) and Awaken the Giant Within (1991) took him from small workshops to arenas and private sessions with Bill Clinton, Hugh Jackman, Pitbull, Steve Wynn and Marc Benioff.

In 2013 he revealed that a 10-inch high school growth spurt came from a pituitary tumor; he was diagnosed with acromegaly at 31 and declined recommended brain surgery. After 12 years as a vegan, a fish-heavy diet gave him mercury poisoning that the sources say nearly killed him. His record includes a 1995 FTC settlement in which Robbins Research International paid over $221,000 in consumer redress without admitting a violation, a copyright suit by author Wade Cook settled out of court, and reports of burns at fire walks in San Jose in 2012 and Dallas in 2016. In 2019 BuzzFeed News published allegations of sexual misconduct, including a claim involving a teenage girl in 1985. Robbins denied all of them and sued BuzzFeed in Ireland, and his lawyers filed a notice of discontinuance in 2025.

• He joined the investment group behind Los Angeles Football Club, which began play in 2018, and partnered with Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards executives to buy esports organization Team Liquid.
• In 2024 he launched The Estate with hospitality mogul Sam Nazarian, pairing resorts with medical testing from his firm Fountain Life.
• Joe Berlinger's 2016 Netflix documentary I Am Not Your Guru followed his Date With Destiny seminar.
• His organization said only five of roughly 7,000 Dallas fire walkers requested an examination beyond on-site first aid.
• In 2014 he donated all profits from Money: Master the Game, plus a personal donation, to provide millions of meals.