Thomas J. Stanley

Thomas J. Stanley grew up in the Bronx. His father drove subway trains and his mother was a homemaker and secretary. He went to college in Connecticut, did graduate work at the University of Tennessee and earned a doctorate in business administration at the University of Georgia. He taught marketing at the University at Albany, Tennessee, Georgia and Georgia State University in Atlanta.

His research asked how people who did not inherit money become wealthy. He first wrote for professionals in books such as Marketing to the Affluent (1988). With William D. Danko he wrote The Millionaire Next Door (1996), which argues that most millionaires live below their means, drive used cars and save a large share of their income. It sold millions of copies. The Millionaire Mind (2000) and Stop Acting Rich (2009) followed. Critics note that the surveys count only those who succeeded and reflect the economy of their time.

A drunk driver killed Stanley in Georgia in February 2015, at age 71. His daughter, the psychologist Sarah Stanley Fallaw, finished their last book, The Next Millionaire Next Door (2018).