Robert Greene
Robert Greene is an American Author and Speaker best known for his international bestselling books on strategy, power, and human nature. He is the #1 international bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, Mastery, The 50th Law, The Laws of Human Nature, and The Daily Laws, with over 10 million copies sold worldwide and translations into more than 24 languages.
Robert is a globally recognized expert on human behavior whose work has influenced industry moguls, artists, athletes, and leaders across diverse fields. Robert's seminal work, The 48 Laws of Power, published in 1998, has sold more than 1.2 million copies in the United States alone. Read The Prophets of Cryptocurrency Survey the Boom and Bust.
The 48 Laws of Power draws on the writings of strategists and thinkers such as Niccolò Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl von Clausewitz, presenting 48 laws of power distilled from historical examples. In December 2024, Spotify announced The 48 Laws of Power was the sixth top audiobook on their platform globally and the fifth top audiobook in the United States.
The book has been referenced by 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, Michael Jackson, Courtney Love, Will Smith, and Busta Rhymes. It has been studied at Millsaps College and Ramapo College. Notably, The 48 Laws of Power is the most banned book by the most banned author in American prisons, with corrections officials citing security concerns. Read ‘Books keep our minds free’: US prisons ban reading materials at alarming pace. In 2020, rapper Drake announced he was producing a cinematic series based on the book.
Robert's subsequent books have achieved similar acclaim. The Art of Seduction, published in 2001, has sold over 500,000 copies and presents nine seducer archetypes with historical examples including Cleopatra, Casanova, and Duke Ellington. The 33 Strategies of War, published in 2006, has sold over 200,000 copies and applies military strategy principles from Napoleon Bonaparte, Sun Tzu, and Alexander the Great to everyday conflicts. The Sunday Times called it "an excellent toolkit for dealing with business and relationships."
The 50th Law, coauthored with rapper 50 Cent in 2009, debuted at number five on The New York Times Best Seller list and became a USA Today bestseller. Mastery, published in 2012, reached number six on The New York Times Best Seller list and examines the paths of masters including Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
His sixth book, The Laws of Human Nature, published in 2018, presents 18 laws examining conscious and unconscious human drives, cognitive biases, and behavioral patterns through historical figures such as Joseph Stalin, Anton Chekhov, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Coco Chanel. Robert considers it the culmination of his life's study of human behavior. In 2021, he published The Daily Laws, featuring 366 daily meditations on power, seduction, mastery, strategy, and human nature.
Between 2011 and 2014, Robert served on the Board of Directors of American Apparel, where he chaired the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. He was appointed by founder and CEO Dov Charney, who frequently quoted The 48 Laws of Power during board meetings and distributed copies to employees. Robert resigned from the board in June 2014 following Charney's termination.
Robert has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Newsweek, USA Today, CNN, Forbes, and Los Angeles Times. He has appeared on MSNBC, the Today Show, CNBC, ABC, and MTV News. Watch The Key to Transforming Yourself at TEDxBrixton, Mastery Talks at Google, The Laws of Human Nature Talks at Google, and War, Power, Strategy at Microsoft Research. Listen to Your Dark Side and Control Over Your Life | Robert Greene.
Robert has mentored bestselling author Ryan Holiday, who dropped out of college at 19 to apprentice under Robert and later became Director of Marketing at American Apparel. Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, and The Daily Stoic, credits Robert with teaching him the craft of writing, research methodologies, and objective thinking. Read 23 Lessons I Learned From Robert Greene On Strategy, Mastery And Power.
Robert earned his Bachelor's Degree in Classical Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison after initially attending the University of California, Berkeley. Before becoming an author, Robert worked approximately 50 to 80 different jobs, including construction worker, translator, magazine editor at Esquire, Hollywood story developer, hotel receptionist in Paris, tour guide in Dublin, English teacher in Barcelona, and writer for an English television documentary company while living in Brixton.
In 1995, Robert worked as a writer at Fabrica, an art and media school in Italy founded by Benetton Group, where he met book packager Joost Elffers and pitched the idea that became The 48 Laws of Power. In September 2018, shortly before the release of The Laws of Human Nature, Robert suffered a serious stroke caused by a blood clot in his neck precipitated by a wasp sting. He temporarily lost use of his left hand and leg but made a complete recovery with rehabilitation.
Robert was born on May 14, 1959, in Los Angeles, California, the younger of two sons in a Jewish family. He speaks five languages and is a student of Zen Buddhism. Robert lives in Los Angeles with his partner and filmmaker Anna Biller, known for directing Viva (2007) and The Love Witch (2016). He supported Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election and identifies with liberal politics.
In December 2022, during the Mahsa Amini protests, Iranian activist groups distributed a text attributed to Robert describing civil disobedience strategies for opposing the Islamic Republic. Robert maintains a significant social media presence with 3 million followers on Instagram, 1.9 million followers on TikTok, 2.1 million subscribers on YouTube, and over 700,000 followers on X. His weekly newsletter reaches over 91,000 subscribers.
Watch Robert Greene: A Process for Finding & Achieving Your Unique Purpose and The Path To Power: Ambition, Status, Strength & Respect. Read his Contributions on Medium.
Visit his Homepage, LinkedIn profile, Wikipedia page, and Goodreads page. Follow him on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and X.