Thomas J. Stanley (1944 – February 28, 2015) was an American writer and business theorist. He authored and co-authored several award-winning books on America's wealthy, including the New York Times’ bestsellers The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind. He served as chief advisor to Data Points, a company founded based on his research and data. Stanley earned a doctorate in business administration from the University of Georgia and was on the faculty of the University at Albany, State University of New York. He taught marketing at the University of Tennessee, University of Georgia, and Georgia State University, where he was named Omicron Delta Kappa's Outstanding Professor.

Born in the Bronx, Stanley was raised by a father who worked as a subway car driver and a mother who was a homemaker and secretary. He attended college in Connecticut and pursued graduate work at the University of Tennessee. He spent most of his career studying how financially successful Americans acquired their wealth independently. Tragically, Stanley was killed by a drunk driver in 2015 at the age of 71. At the time of his death, he was working on a book with his daughter, Sarah Stanley Fallaw, which she later completed. The book, The Next Millionaire Next Door: Enduring Strategies for Building Wealth, credits both Thomas J. Stanley and his daughter as authors.