# Highest IQ People: 10 Geniuses With Incredible Scores *Science & Technology · Priya Nair · 2026-08-20* ## TL;DR The highest IQ people in recorded history include William James Sidis, with an estimated score around 250, and Marilyn vos Savant, who scored 228 on the Stanford-Binet test. Terence Tao, a mathematician, reportedly scores between 220 and 230. These scores come from different testing methods, so direct comparisons are tricky. ## Key facts - William James Sidis, an American child prodigy, reportedly had an IQ estimated between 250 and 300, tested a few years before his death in 1944. - Marilyn vos Savant, an American author, scored 228 on the Stanford-Binet test in 1956, a result listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. - Terence Tao, a mathematician, has an IQ estimated around 220 to 230, based on his early mathematical achievements. - Christopher Hirata, an American astrophysicist, had an IQ of 225, measured when he was young. - Judit Polgár, a Hungarian chess grandmaster, reportedly has an IQ of 170. ## Highest IQ People: 10 Geniuses With Incredible Scores When people talk about the highest IQ people in history, the numbers can sound almost unbelievable. Scores above 250, children reading at age two, and minds that reshaped entire fields of science. The modern IQ test was developed in 1905, with 100 considered average and anything above 140 classified as genius territory. But some individuals have scored, or been estimated to score, far beyond that mark, and their stories are as fascinating as their numbers. Take Younghoon Kim from South Korea, who in April 2024 was declared the person with the highest IQ in the world by the Giga Society, a group reserved for those scoring above 190. His reported score of 276 puts him at the very top of the list. Kim serves as an intelligence expert consultant for the World Mind Sports Council, the World Memory Championship, and the World Speed Reading Championship. He also serves as president and managing director of the United Sigma Intelligence Association. Then there's Marnen Laibow-Koser, an American musical prodigy whose predicted IQ score from a childhood test was 268. He began studying, playing, and composing music at just three years old. Laibow-Koser studied composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Purchase College, then earned a master's degree in contemporary improvisation from the New England Conservatory. Today he lives in Massachusetts, working as a composer, musician, and web developer. Ainan Cawley, now 24, has an estimated IQ of 263. With a Singaporean mother and Irish father, he was described by his father at age eight as a scientist, mathematician, computer programmer, self-taught pianist and composer, film score composer, writer, director, and editor. Before turning ten, he was already studying chemistry at Singapore Polytechnic. In 2011, the World Intellectual Property Organization gave Cawley and his father a special award for their work with child prodigies. Perhaps the most legendary name on any list of highest IQ people is William Sidis, the American child who entered Harvard at 11 and graduated at 16. He's often cited as the real-life inspiration for the Matt Damon character in "Good Will Hunting." According to his sister Helena, a psychologist told the family that a test Sidis took a few years before his death showed a score between 250 and 300, the highest the psychologist had ever seen. Sidis died in 1944 at age 46 from a stroke. German mathematician Carl Gauss, known as the "prince of mathematicians," is also estimated to have scored in the 250-300 range. Stories from his childhood describe him discovering patterns in number sequences at just three years old. His contributions spanned number theory, differential geometry, astronomy, and probability theory, making him one of the foundational figures of modern mathematics. ### Terence Tao: The Mozart of Math Terence Tao, nicknamed the "Mozart of mathematics," has an estimated IQ between 225 and 230. He started learning calculus at age seven and began high school the same year. By 20, he had earned his PhD from Princeton and joined the faculty at UCLA, becoming a full professor just four years later. In 2006, he won the Fields Medal, often called the Nobel Prize of mathematics. ### Marilyn vos Savant: The Guinness Record Holder Marilyn vos Savant took the Stanford-Binet test in 1956 at age ten and scored 228, with a mental age of 22 years and 11 months. For five years, she held the "highest IQ" category in the Guinness Book of World Records, until the category was removed in 1990. She went on to write the "Ask Marilyn" column for Parade magazine for 35 years, creating math and logic puzzles for a national audience. ### Christopher Hirata: From Elementary School to Astrophysics Christopher Hirata finished calculus and advanced physics while still in elementary school. He graduated high school at 14, studied physics at the California Institute of Technology, and earned his physics doctorate from Princeton in 2005. Since 2013, he has been a professor of physics and astronomy at Ohio State University, specializing in dark energy and astrophysics. The BBC has called him the second highest verified IQ score. ### Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Polymath's Polymath According to the methodology of American electrochemical engineer Libb Thims, who estimated IQ by examining what people achieved in each decade of their lives, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe holds the highest estimated IQ in history, between 210 and 225. Though often labeled a philosopher, Goethe disliked being categorized. He worked across metaphysics, biology, and color theory, refusing to limit himself to any single discipline. ### Kim Ung-Yong: The Prodigy Who Came Home Kim Ung-Yong, born in 1962, is a South Korean civil engineer who has been called both a "failed genius" and "the highest IQ person of all time." At age four, he could solve difficult math problems, and by five, he spoke four languages. At eight, he traveled to America to study physics at the University of Colorado, soon working at NASA. But loneliness drove him back to Korea, where he became a full-time professor at Shinhan University in 2014. ### William Shakespeare: The Playwright's Estimated Genius William Shakespeare's estimated IQ of 210 comes from his extraordinary body of work: 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 narrative poems written over his lifetime. His works introduced everyday phrases we still use today. None of his original manuscripts survived, but in 1623, a group of actors collected 36 of his plays into a book called the First Folio, saving them from being lost forever. ### Nathan Leopold: Genius and Crime Nathan Leopold's estimated IQ of 200 to 220 is overshadowed by his notoriety. In 1924, at age 19, he and his 18-year-old friend Richard Loeb murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks, describing it as an "experiment in perfect crime" and a "mental exercise." Leopold had graduated from the University of Chicago and planned to attend Harvard Law School. After confessing, he received a life sentence and was released on parole in 1958 after 33 years. ### Edith Stern: The "Perfect Human" Project Born in 1952, Edith Stern's father held a press conference one day after her birth to announce his plan to make her a "perfect human." Under what became known as the "Edith Project," baby talk was banned in her home and only classical music was played. She finished the Britannica encyclopedia at age five and started university at 12. In the 1970s, she earned a doctorate in mathematics and went to work at IBM. ### Michael Grost: Too Smart to Test Michael Grost started at Michigan State University at age 10 and graduated at 15. A 1964 Time magazine article described his IQ as "too high to be meaningfully tested," and his mother wrote in a 1970 book that it exceeded 200. Now in his 70s, he works as an artificial intelligence specialist, writes mystery novels, and creates abstract paintings. ### Dylan Jones: Hitting the Test Ceiling Dylan Jones made news in 2002 when, at age 11, he began taking calculus and quantitative chemistry at the Colorado School of Mines. His family said his IQ was "over 200" but refused to give an exact number because, as they put it, "he hit the ceiling of the test, so it's not accurate." He graduated in 2007 at 16 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science, plus minors in bioengineering and life sciences, then continued at the University of Colorado Medical School. ### Sho Yano: The Real-Life Doogie Howser Sho Yano learned to read at age 2, started writing at 3, and composed music at 5. At 8, he scored 1500 on the SAT, and at 9, he began at Loyola University Chicago. He graduated three years later and studied medicine at the University of Chicago, earning a PhD in molecular genetics and cell biology at 18 and becoming a medical doctor at 21. Now 35, he works as an associate professor of pediatrics and a child neurologist at the University of Chicago. These are just a few of the remarkable individuals who have pushed the boundaries of measured intelligence. Each story reminds us that a number, no matter how extraordinary, only captures a fragment of what the human mind can achieve. Editorial note: Any facts which remain unconfirmed are presented as such, including the exact scores for individuals whose tests were not standardized or publicly verified. Canonical: https://curio.madeda.com/highest-iq-people-10-geniuses-with-incredible-scores/