Bestselling Author │ Cultural Theorist  │ Stratagist 

Law 3—CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS

Law 14—POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY

Law 15—CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY

Robert Greene is not a man who preaches “random acts of kindness.”  In fact the release of his book The 48 Laws of Power prompted New York Magazine to declare “Machiavelli has a new rival.  And Sun-tzu better watch his back.” Spending eleven weeks on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list, The 48 Laws of Power sent shockwaves through the business world, Hollywood, Washington, and even the Hip-Hop music industry.  Not only has Greene been called in to personally advise industry leaders such as famed film and TV producer Brian Grazer and American Apparel CEO Dov Charney, but he’s also been asked to collaborate on a new business book with the multi-platinum rapper 50 Cent.  Rap producer and filmmaker Quincy “QD3” Jones III has even begun working on a full-length documentary about The 48 Laws of Power and its influence on the music industry.

“A lot of people who identify with the book are people who’ve had problems dealing with powerful people,” Greene says.  “I used to be sort of like that.  I learned the hard way.”  In other words, if you’re looking for protection from the wolves of this world—be they golf club-swinging CEOs or shotgun-slinging street thugs—Greene is your man.  Starting with his academic grounding in the classics and his own experiences working as a writer and story developer in the cutthroat world of Hollywood, he went on to scour the world’s literature of history, philosophy, mythology, and military strategy in search of how and why individuals have risen to power throughout history. From Casanova to Chairman Mao to Machiavelli himself, his extensive research turns up myriad examples to both illustrate the efficacy of each of his 48 laws, and to show the danger in failing to heed them.  In Greene’s view, today’s world is every bit as treacherous as the backstabbing royal courts of Renaissance Europe or the political machinations of imperial Rome, and ignoring these time-tested laws could be your ruination.

For the sequel to The 48 Laws of Power, Greene shifted his focus from the public realm to the private with the bestselling The Art of Seduction.  Abandoning any pretense of morality, he exposes the much more pragmatic reality of the ten seductive character types (are you a Coquette?  A Natural?  A Siren?  A Rake?).  By using historic and celebrity examples to help illuminate the distinct character types, The Art of Seduction allows one to discover which personal combination of techniques to rely on when playing one of history’s oldest games.   Greene then goes on to reveal how to chose a “victim” and apply the twenty-four timeless strategies and maneuvers that will insure a successful conquest:  “The right victims are those for whom you can fill a void, who see in you something exotic.  They are often isolated or unhappy, or can easily be made so—for the completely contented person is almost impossible to seduce.”

As powerful as they are, mastering the essential secrets of power and seduction still won’t protect you from life’s inevitable wars.  With his third book The 33 Strategies of War Greene again takes the realist view that wars are unavoidable, and if you want to survive, you better learn how to fight:  “Life is endless battle and conflict, and you cannot fight effectively unless you can identify your enemies.  Learn to smoke out your enemies, to spot them by the signs and patterns that reveal hostility.  Then, once you have them in your sights, inwardly declare war.   Your enemies can fill you with purpose and direction.”  Outlining strategies for Self-Directed, Team, Defensive, Offensive, and Unconventional warfare, he again uses historical and present day examples of how best to defeat your enemies and emerge victorious from the battlefield of life.

Greene is a sought after management strategist and has consulted to businesses in the U.S and abroad about image-building and strategy.  He has been invited to lecture by Google, Microsoft, and the US Olympic Governing Body among many others.

Robert Greene was born in Los Angeles.  He attended both U.C. Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin, receiving a degree in classical studies from the latter.  In addition to his career in the entertainment industry, he has worked in New York as an editor and writer for Esquire and other magazines.

Selected Lecture Topics

• The Essential History of Power: from Ramses II to Karl Rove
• The Importance of Studying War—Lessons & Strategies
• The Timeless Art of Power
• Seduction, Power and Politics
• The Real Machiavelli
• The Literature of Seduction

Books

• The 33 Strategies of War (Viking/Penguin, 2006)
• The Art of Seduction (Viking/Penguin, 2003)
• The 48 Laws of Power  (Viking/Penguin, 2000)

For more information on Robert Greene and his work, go to www.powerseductionwar.com.