Thomas J. Stanley was born in 1944 in the Bronx, New York City. He went to college in Connecticut, did graduate work at the University of Tennessee, and received a doctorate at the University of Georgia. He was a marketing professor at Georgia State University, a public speaker, a consultant on selling to the rich, and an author. He wrote books on the habits of millionaires including The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind. He died in a car accident on February 28, 2015 at the age of 71.