Tony Robbins

While he’s often called a motivational speaker, Mr. Robbins prefers not to use the term. He says that his job isn’t to motivate people but to give them practical strategies. His own motivation, he says, comes from his upbringing in Azusa, Calif. He left home at 17 after his alcoholic, sometimes abusive mother chased him out of the house with a knife. (His mother died in 2007.) He decided to help other people overcome their personal obstacles and emotional suffering, too. Instead of enrolling in college, Mr. Robbins went to work for motivational speaker Jim Rohn. He launched his first seminar in 1983 and wrote his first book, “Unlimited Power,” in 1986. At the time, Mr. Robbins was married to his first wife; he adopted her three children and had one of his own from a previous relationship. He married his second and current wife, Sage, in 2001. She works so closely with him that he calls her “the executive producer of my life.” Today they spend most of their time in Palm Beach, Fla. They also have a 525-acre property in Fiji and a private plane. Mr. Robbins is worth an estimated $450 million.