Robert Greene

Robert Greene (born May 14, 1959) is an American author of books on strategy, power, and seduction. He has written seven international bestsellers, including The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law (with rapper 50 Cent), Mastery, The Laws of Human Nature, and The Daily Laws.

Born in 1959, Greene studied classical studies and worked a variety of jobs, before his first book was published in 1998. Greene frequently draws on analyses of past historical figures and events throughout his writing. Greene's works have been referenced by a wide variety of celebrities, political figures, and civil rights activists. He is the most banned author in prisons in the United States; many prisons ban his books as a security measure.

Early life and career The younger son of Jewish parents, Greene grew up in Baldwin Hills and Brentwood neighbourhoods of Los Angeles, graduated from Palisades Charter High School, and attended the University of California, Berkeley, before finishing his degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a B.A. degree in classical studies. Prior to becoming an author, Greene estimates that he worked about 50 jobs, including as a construction worker, translator, magazine editor, and Hollywood movie writer. In 1995, Greene worked as a writer at Fabrica, an art and media school in Italy, and met a book packager named Joost Elffers.

Greene was an editor at Esquire. He was approached in 2001 and subsequently hired as a consultant by Dov Charney, the founding CEO of American Apparel, who had read his book The 48 Laws of Power. After advising Charney on the company's initial public offering in 2007, Greene joined its board of directors and was described as the "in-house guru". Each law has its own chapter, complete with a "transgression of the law," "observance of the law," and/or a "reversal."

Greene says the idea behind his first book is that power is amoral, i.e., it is neither good nor evil. He states The 48 Laws of Power is intended to highlight how we conceptualize power and how we behave in different hierarchical institutions.

The 48 Laws of Power has sold more than 1.2 million copies Courtney Love, and Will Smith. Busta Rhymes says he used The 48 Laws of Power to deal with problematic movie producers. Greene has claimed that former Cuban President Fidel Castro had also read the book. Greene responds to this sentiment by stating, "These laws… people might say, 'Oh they're wicked', but they're practiced day in and day out by business people. You're always trying to get rid of your competition and it can be pretty bloodthirsty, and that's just the reality." In December 2024, Spotify announced the book was the 6th top audiobook on their platform globally and the 5th top audiobook in the USA.

Greene has also stated that he takes most of his own laws "with a healthy pinch of salt," saying, "When I say 'Crush your enemy,' I don’t literally mean it. […] I’m talking about the way large companies deal with each other, for example in technology it’s a dog-eat-dog environment. These laws are not for Joe Schmo who’s got a colleague he doesn’t like."

The Art of Seduction

Greene's second book, The Art of Seduction, was published in 2001. The book profiles the nine types of seducers (e.g. The Rake, The Siren, and The Charmer) and details aspects of attraction, authenticity, storytelling, and negotiation. Greene uses examples from historical figures such as Cleopatra, Giacomo Casanova, Duke Ellington and John F. Kennedy to support the psychology behind seduction. It has sold more than 500,000 copies.

The 33 Strategies of War

The 33 Strategies of War is the third book by Greene and was published in 2006. The book is divided into five parts: Self-Directed Warfare, Organizational (Team) Warfare, Defensive Warfare, Offensive Warfare and Unconventional (Dirty) Warfare.

The Sunday Times called the book "an excellent toolkit for dealing with business and relationships," and The Independent claims that Greene set himself up as a "highly successful author" of "tracts on how to get ahead" but that "it is never clear whether he really believes what he writes or whether it is just his shtick, an instrument of his will to shift £20 hardbacks." NBA player Chris Bosh stated that his favorite book is The 33 Strategies of War. It has sold more than 200,000 copies. The book mixes talk of strategy and fearlessness by supplementing anecdotes from 50 Cent's rise as both a hustler and as an up-and-coming musician with lessons from various historical figures. Each of the 10 chapters in the book explains a factor of fearlessness and begins by telling how 50 learned this "Fearless Philosophy" in Southside Queens.

The book debuted at #5 on The New York Times Bestseller list and was a USA Today bestseller.

Mastery

Greene's fifth book, Mastery, was released on November 13, 2012. Mastery examines the lives of both historical and contemporary figures such as Charles Darwin, Paul Graham, the Wright Brothers, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Mozart, and distills the traits and universal ingredients that made them masters. The book is divided into six sections, each focusing on essential lessons and strategies on the path to Mastery.

Mastery reached #6 on The New York Times Bestseller list and was featured in CNN Money, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Business Insider, Forbes, Management Today, and Fast Company.

The Laws of Human Nature Greene's sixth book, The Laws of Human Nature, was released in October 2018. Through 18 "laws", the book examines people's conscious and unconscious drives, motivations, and cognitive biases. It also talks about persuasion, rationality and death. He considers it his most complete book and advises for anyone who hasn’t read anything from him to start from here.

The book takes examples from Joseph Stalin, Anton Chekhov, Lyndon Johnson, Leo Tolstoy, Coco Chanel, and others.

The Daily Laws The Daily Laws, Greene's seventh book, was released in October 2021. The book features concise texts on wisdom, with each day of the year dedicated to a “Daily Law” and each month focusing on a different day.

Media Greene's work has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, The New Yorker, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes and the Huffington Post.

In 2013, Greene did a presentation on his book Mastery on Talks at Google. Later in the year, he did a presentation on TED titled "The key to transforming yourself". In 2016, a previous presentation of Robert's was uploaded at Microsoft Research titled "War, Power, Strategy". In 2019, he did another presentation on Talks at Google on his book The Laws of Human Nature.

Personal life Greene lives in Los Angeles with his partner Anna Biller, who is a filmmaker.

When asked in 2012 if he is religious, Greene said "I'm Jewish but I don't have a hardcore spiritual practice. I'm not hardcore atheist; I'm sort of how Einstein was: He wasn't a believer in the Jewish God. I'm intrigued by the sense that there's something there."

Greene has served as a mentor to Ryan Holiday, a bestselling author (e.g., of The Daily Stoic).

Politics On December 16, 2022, during the Mahsa Amini protests, the Neighborhood Youth Alliance of Iran and the Neighborhood Youth of Karaj Group distributed a text that they attributed to Greene, describing strategies for opposing the Islamic Republic governmental system of Iran. The Institute for the Study of War suggested that the text corresponded to a December 7 YouTube video by Greene on the protests. A five-point list of civil disobedience strategies for sustaining the protest movement was distributed with the text.

Greene supported Barack Obama in the 2012 United States presidential election and identifies with liberal politics. He has spoken unfavourably of Obama's opponent Mitt Romney.