Famous IQ Claims, Fact-Checked: 89 Numbers Traced to Their Source
53 of 89 famous IQ figures have no traceable source. Only 6 rest on a test result on record. The full sourced database, free to reuse.
Albert Einstein never took an IQ test. Neither did Nikola Tesla or Stephen Hawking. Yet a number follows each of them across the internet — 160 for Einstein, anything from 160 to 310 for Tesla, 160 for Hawking — repeated by list sites, quiz pages and, often, the press. We traced 89 of the most widely repeated IQ figures attached to famous people back to their source. Most lead nowhere.
Key findings
- 53 of 89 figures (60%) have no traceable source. No test, no statement by the person, no study, and no report that names a basis.
- Only 6 (7%) rest on a test result documented by the person or a primary record — and each carries a caveat. Three are childhood scores calculated on the old ratio method (Marilyn vos Savant, Terence Tao, Kim Ung-yong), one comes from unsupervised high-range tests (Evangelos Katsioulis) and two are self-reports (James Woods, Isaac Asimov). Eight more rest on secondary accounts of a test that cannot be checked.
- Living people fare worst: 33 of 41 figures attached to living people (80%) have no traceable source.
- When a real test can be found, it often contradicts the viral number. Garry Kasparov scored 135 on an Eysenck intelligence test arranged by Der Spiegel in 1987; the internet says 190. Richard Feynman's school test gave 125, according to his biographer James Gleick. Terence Tao writes that "greater than 175" is a more realistic reading of his childhood test than the 225 to 230 that circulates.
- 21 of the 22 scholarly estimates trace to a single 1926 book, Catharine Cox's study of 301 historical figures born between 1450 and 1850, which inferred IQs from biographies; the other is psychologist Jonathan Wai's 2011 estimate for Steve Jobs. They are estimates, not test scores — and Einstein, Tesla, Curie, Turing and Ramanujan were all born too late to be in Cox's study.
- Copying manufactures precision. One 2012 "smartest people alive" infographic is the earliest traceable source for the figures attached to Christopher Hirata (225), Judit Polgár (170) and Rick Rosner (192). A 2013 wire story credited Shakira's and Madonna's 140 to a Mensa celebrity list; Mensa says it issues no such list.
How we labelled each claim
- Test on record — a specific score from a real test, documented by the person on the record (memoir, essay, interview), by a study that tested them, or by an official record. Comparability caveats are stated.
- Reported, unverified — a published secondary source (newspaper, magazine, biography) says a test was taken and gives the score, but no test record, date or confirmation by the person can be traced.
- Scholarly estimate — a researcher's retrospective estimate from biographical records, almost always Cox (1926). No test was taken.
- No traceable source — the figure circulates on list sites, quiz pages and social media with no test, first-person statement, study or reporting that names a basis.
The database
Download the full dataset (CSV, 89 rows) — free to reuse under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
At a glance
- Test on record (6): Evangelos Katsioulis, Isaac Asimov, James Woods, Kim Ung-yong, Marilyn vos Savant, Terence Tao
- Reported, unverified (8): Bobby Fischer, Christopher Langan, Kim Peek, Michael Kearney, Muhammad Ali, Richard Feynman, Sharon Stone, William James Sidis
- Scholarly estimate (22): Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Blaise Pascal, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Galileo Galilei, George Washington, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Immanuel Kant, Isaac Newton, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Stuart Mill, Leonardo da Vinci, Ludwig van Beethoven, Michelangelo, Napoleon Bonaparte, René Descartes, Steve Jobs, Thomas Jefferson, Voltaire, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- No traceable source (53): Alan Turing, Albert Einstein, Alexander Hamilton, Alexander the Great, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ashton Kutcher, Bill Gates, Brian May, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Christopher Hirata, Conan O'Brien, Dolph Lundgren, Elon Musk, Emma Watson, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Garry Kasparov, Geena Davis, Hannibal Barca, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Jeff Bezos, Jodie Foster, John von Neumann, Judit Polgár, Julius Caesar, Kim Kardashian, Leonhard Euler, Lisa Kudrow, Madonna, Magnus Carlsen, Marie Curie, Mark Zuckerberg, Marnen Laibow-Koser, Matt Damon, Max Planck, Mayim Bialik, Natalie Portman, Nikola Tesla, Nolan Gould, Pythagoras, Quentin Tarantino, Rick Rosner, Rowan Atkinson, Sam Altman, Shakira, Sigmund Freud, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Stephen Hawking, Steve Martin, Taylor Swift, Vitalik Buterin, Warren Buffett, William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill
Each entry below gives the figure that circulates most widely, our verdict, what the record actually shows and the evidence we relied on, in alphabetical order.
Abraham Lincoln: 150
Law and politics, 1809–1865
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. Lincoln never took an IQ test. The 150 is Cox's 1926 reliability-corrected estimate for ages 17–26; her four figures (125, 145, 140, 150) are biographical estimates, reused by Simonton in 2006. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Political Psychology (International Society of Political Psychology) 2006 · Stanford University Press / Internet Archive 1926
Alan Turing: 185
Mathematics and computer science, 1912–1954
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test or scholarly IQ estimate exists for Turing. The 185 on celebrity-IQ sites names no test, date or examiner, and he was born after the 1850 cutoff of Cox's study. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Riot IQ 2026 · turing.org.uk · Internet Archive 1926
Albert Einstein: 160
Physics, 1879–1955
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test record exists. The 160 figure has no traceable origin; the first adult group tests date from 1917, when Einstein was 38, and Cox's 1926 study covered births 1450-1850. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Riot IQ 2025 · Riot IQ 2024 · Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
Alexander Hamilton: 150–160
Law, public finance, political theory, 1755 or 1757–1804
Verdict: No traceable source. The 150–160 range circulates on question-and-answer sites with no source. The scholarly figures are Cox's 1926 estimates: 135 (childhood) and 140 (ages 17–26), corrected to 155. No test exists. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press (scan: Internet Archive) 1926 · IQ Comparison Site
Alexander the Great: 180–200
Military command, kingship, 356 BC–323 BC
Verdict: No traceable source. No test or scholarly estimate exists. The 180–200 figure appears on content sites with no named rater or method; Alexander predates Cox's 1926 sample, which covered births 1450–1850. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Wikipedia accessed 2026 · Gifted Child Quarterly / SAGE (PDF hosted by gwern.net) 2020
Arnold Schwarzenegger: 135
Film and bodybuilding, 1947, living
Twenty questions, eight minutes on the clock, and a percentile measured against everyone who has taken it. No sign-up.
Take the IQ test →Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. The 135 figure (sometimes 132) appears on celebrity-IQ sites with no named test, date or examiner. Biography
Sources: Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne) · Wikipedia 2026
Ashton Kutcher: 160
Acting and venture investing, 1978, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test, interview or reported basis supports 160; list sites present it as 'estimated' or 'reported' without a source. Documented: he entered the University of Iowa intending to major in biochemical engineering. Biography
Sources: Newsweek 2009 · Riot IQ (commercial IQ-test vendor; secondary trace)
Benjamin Franklin: 160
Science, printing and statecraft, 1706–1790
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. The 160 traces to Cox's 1926 study, where raters gave Franklin 145 for both age windows (to 17 and 17–26); 160 is the corrected figure. A retrospective biographical estimate, not a test. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Internet Archive 1926 · Internet Archive 1926 · SAGE / Gifted Child Quarterly 2020
Bill Gates: 160
Software and philanthropy, 1955, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. The 160 is an unattributed conversion of his reported SAT score (1590) published by Biography.com, with no named estimator or method. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Biography.com (A&E) 2014 (updated 2025) · Forbes 2025 · Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne)
Blaise Pascal: 195
Mathematics, physics and philosophy, 1623–1662
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 195 is Cox's 1926 corrected estimate from biographical records, not a test. Her raw ratings were 180 for both birth to 17 and ages 17-26. Biography
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926 · Gifted Child Quarterly 2020
Bobby Fischer: 180–187
Chess, 1943–2008
Verdict: Reported, unverified. The 180s figure comes from Frank Brady's Profile of a Prodigy (1973 edition), quoting an unnamed professor formerly in Erasmus Hall's grade-advisor office; no test record is public. 184 and 187 are unsubstantiated. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: chesshistory.com · Chess.com 2018 · Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne)
Brian May: 180
Music and astrophysics, 1947, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test, interview or reported basis supports 180 (also given as 170 or 181). Documented: Imperial College physics BSc (1968) and astrophysics PhD (2007) on the zodiacal dust cloud. Biography
Sources: Wikipedia 2026 · Poligrafo via CIMPLE Explorer 2022
Carl Friedrich Gauss: 250–300
Mathematics, astronomy and physics, 1777–1855
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test or scholarly IQ estimate exists. Gauss is not among Cox's 301 subjects, and the 250–300 range on list sites cites no source and lies far outside the range standardized IQ tests measure. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Internet Archive 1926 · MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews · SAGE / Gifted Child Quarterly 2020
Charles Darwin: 165
Natural history and biology, 1809–1882
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 165 is Cox's 1926 corrected estimate from biographical records, not a test. Her raw ratings were 135 (birth to 17) and 140 (ages 17-26). Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
Charles Dickens: 180
Literature (novels), 1812–1870
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 180 is Cox's 1926 corrected estimate from biographical records, not a test. Her raw ratings were 145 (birth to 17) and 155 (ages 17-26). Biography
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
Christopher Hirata: 225
Astrophysics and cosmology, 1982, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test, statement by Hirata, or study gives 225. Its earliest traceable appearance is a 2012 Super Scholar ranking, later repeated without a basis by Business Insider and others. Biography
Sources: The Daily Princetonian 2017 · Caltech 2001 · Wikipedia 2026
Christopher Langan: 195–210
Independent researcher (Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe), 1952, living
Verdict: Reported, unverified. Esquire (1999) said his IQ was 'measured at 195, give or take', naming no test. A neuropsychologist testing him for ABC's 20/20 reported him 'off the charts'; no numeric result was published. Biography
Sources: Wikipedia 2026 · The Baffler 2019 · Riot IQ 2026
Conan O'Brien: 160
Television comedy, 1963, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test record, statement by O'Brien or reported basis supports 160; list sites cite only his Harvard record. Documented: Harvard History and Literature, class of 1985; two-term Harvard Lampoon president. Biography
Sources: Harvard Gazette 2026 · Riot IQ (commercial IQ-test vendor; secondary trace)
Dolph Lundgren: 160
Acting, 1957, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test, tester, date or statement by Lundgren supports 160, and no Mensa membership confirmation by Lundgren or Mensa was found. Documented: chemical-engineering studies and a Fulbright scholarship to MIT. Biography
Sources: NPR 2014 · Snopes · Riot IQ (commercial IQ-test vendor; secondary trace)
Elon Musk: 155
Technology and business (aerospace, electric vehicles), 1971, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result for Musk is on record. The 155 figure traces to a list on Sociosite, which the New York Times called a junk website; no test, date or examiner is named. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Center for Genetics and Society / The New York Times 2025 · El Espectador 2025 · The Globe and Mail 2023
Emma Watson: 138
Film, 1990, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. The 138 figure appears only on celebrity-IQ list sites with no named test, date or examiner. Documented: a Brown University BA in English literature (2014). Biography
Sources: Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne) 2026 · Wikipedia 2026
Evangelos Katsioulis: 198
Psychiatry, 1976, living
Verdict: Test on record. 198 (standard deviation 15) appears on his own site and in a 2012 Business Insider list; his society page lists 205 (standard deviation 16) on a 2003 high-range test. No independent clinical record was found. Biography
Sources: World Intelligence Network · katsioulis.com 2026 · katsioulis.com 2012
Fyodor Dostoevsky: 180
Literature, 1821–1881
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result or scholarly estimate exists for Dostoevsky, who died in 1881, before the first intelligence test (1905). The 180 has no traceable test or study; Cox (1926) did not rate him. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press / Internet Archive 1926 · Wikipedia 2026
Galileo Galilei: 185
Physics, astronomy, mathematics, 1564–1642
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 185 is Catharine Cox's 1926 reliability-corrected estimate for ages 17–26, inferred from biographies. Her raters' uncorrected figures were 145 (childhood) and 165 (17–26). Galileo took no test. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press (scan: Internet Archive) 1926 · Dean Keith Simonton, University of California, Davis · IQ Comparison Site
Garry Kasparov: 190
Chess, 1963, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test supports 190. The documented testing, arranged by Der Spiegel in 1987, scored him 135 on an Eysenck intelligence test and 123 on Raven's Progressive Matrices. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Der Spiegel 1987 · Wikipedia (German) 2026 · Chess.com 2007
Geena Davis: 140
Acting, 1956, living
Verdict: No traceable source. Mensa International listed Davis among its 'Prominent Mensans' (archived 2010). The 140 figure appears in 2009 lists and a 2011 CBS gallery with no named basis; Mensa does not disclose members' scores. Biography
Sources: Mensa International (via Wayback Machine) 2010 · Mensa International · O, The Oprah Magazine 2006
George Washington: 132.5
Military command, statecraft, 1732–1799
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 132.5 is the average of four Cox (1926) estimates reprinted by Simonton (2006): 125 (childhood), 135 (ages 17–26), corrected to 130 and 140. Washington took no test. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Political Psychology (Wiley) 2006 · Stanford University Press (scan: Internet Archive) 1926 · IQ Comparison Site
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: 205
Mathematics and philosophy, 1646–1716
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 205 is Cox's 1926 corrected estimate from biographical records, not a test. Her raw ratings were 185 (birth to 17) and 190 (ages 17-26). Biography
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
Hannibal Barca: 155
Military command, statecraft, 247 BC–183–181 BC
Verdict: No traceable source. No test or scholarly estimate exists. A content site attributes 155 to Cox's 1926 study, but Cox included only people born 1450–1850, so Hannibal could not be in it. Full IQ profile
Sources: Gifted Child Quarterly / SAGE (PDF hosted by gwern.net) 2020 · Wikipedia accessed 2026
Immanuel Kant: 175
Philosophy, 1724–1804
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 175 matches Cox's 1926 reliability-corrected estimate for Kant. Her raters' uncorrected figures were 135 (childhood) and 145 (ages 17–26), from data she rated low in reliability (.43). No test exists. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press (scan: Internet Archive) 1926 · IQ Comparison Site · Dean Keith Simonton, University of California, Davis
Isaac Asimov: 160
Science fiction, popular science, biochemistry, 1920–1992
Verdict: Test on record. Asimov wrote that he scored 160 'against a normal of 100' on the Army aptitude test all soldiers took. It is a self-report from an unnamed aptitude test, not a standard IQ score. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Bedford/St. Martin's (course reprint, CUNY OpenLab) 2010 · asimovonline.com · Wikipedia 2026
Isaac Newton: 190
Mathematics and physics, 1643–1727
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 190 is Catharine Cox's 1926 reliability-corrected estimate from biographical records, not a test. Her raw ratings were 130 (birth to 17) and 170 (ages 17-26). Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926 · Riot IQ
J. Robert Oppenheimer: 165
Physics, 1904–1967
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result or scholarly estimate exists for Oppenheimer. The 165, like the 135 and 190 also circulating, cites no test; Looper's 2023 article took 165 from an unsourced Geni list. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Atomic Heritage Foundation · Stanford University Press / Internet Archive 1926
James Woods: 180 (he has said 184)
Acting, 1947, living
Verdict: Test on record. Woods told Route magazine he had '184 IQ on my Stanford-Binet'. That is a self-report with no published record, date or test version; the circulating 180 matches no statement found.
Sources: ROUTE Magazine · MIT News Office 1998 · Neatorama / mental_floss 2009
Jeff Bezos: 150
Technology and business (e-commerce, spaceflight), 1964, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. Figures from 142 to 160 appear on aggregator sites with no named test or source; documented evidence is academic, including a summa cum laude Princeton degree. Biography
Sources: Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne) · Wikipedia 2026 · Goodreads / Little, Brown 2013
Jodie Foster: 132
Acting and directing, 1962, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test record, school document or statement by Foster supports 132. It appears on list sites from 2009 and in a 2011 CBS gallery ('reportedly') without a named basis. Biography
Sources: Wikipedia 2026 · Riot IQ (commercial IQ-test vendor; secondary trace)
Johann Sebastian Bach: 165
Music (composition), 1685–1750
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. Bach never took an IQ test. The 165 is Catharine Cox's 1926 reliability-corrected estimate from biography; her uncorrected ratings were 125 (to age 17) and 140 (17–26), on data graded .43. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press / Internet Archive 1926 · IQ Comparison Site
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: 210
Literature, science and statecraft, 1749–1832
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 210 is Cox's 1926 corrected estimate from biographical records, not a test. Her raw ratings were 185 (birth to 17) and 200 (ages 17-26); one rater alone gave 225. Biography
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
John Stuart Mill: 190
Philosophy and economics, 1806–1873
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 190 is Cox's 1926 childhood estimate, based on Mill's unusually complete early records; it is not a test. Her ages 17-26 rating was 170, and her corrected figure 180. Biography
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
John von Neumann: 190
Mathematics, physics and computing, 1903–1957
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test or scholarly IQ estimate exists. Figures of 180 to 200 have no recorded test behind them; biographers report none, and he was born after the 1850 cutoff of Cox's study. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Riot IQ 2026 · Mathematical Association of America 1973 · Internet Archive 1926
Judit Polgár: 170
Chess, 1976, living
Verdict: No traceable source. 170 appears on 'smartest people' lists (by 2007, including Super Scholar 2012) with no named test. No statement by Polgár or test record was found. Biography
Sources: Chess.com 2007 · Wikipedia 2026
Julius Caesar: 170
Military command, politics, Latin prose, 100 BC–44 BC
Verdict: No traceable source. No test or scholarly estimate exists. Figures around 170 appear on content sites with no named rater or method; Caesar predates Cox's 1926 sample, which covered births 1450–1850. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Wikipedia accessed 2026 · Gifted Child Quarterly / SAGE (PDF hosted by gwern.net) 2020
Kim Kardashian: 190
Media and business, 1980, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. The 190 figure appears on unreliable sites with no named test. Documented: she passed California's First-Year Law Students' Examination in 2021 after three failed attempts. Biography
Sources: Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne) 2023/2025 · CBS News 2021 · Wikipedia 2026
Kim Peek: 87
Savant memory, 1951–2009
Verdict: Reported, unverified. Darold Treffert and Daniel Christensen (Scientific American, 2005) report an overall score of 87 from 1988 testing, with very uneven subtests; the testing report itself judged the IQ classification not a valid description of his abilities. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Scientific American 2005 · Scientific American · Wikipedia accessed 2026
Kim Ung-yong: 210
Civil engineering; university teaching, 1962, living
Verdict: Test on record. Kim says he took a roughly seven-hour test in Japan at age seven; its maximum was 200 and 10 points were added. The test is unnamed and no record is published. Guinness once listed him. Biography
Sources: Seoul Shinmun 2011 · Joongboo Ilbo 2014 · The Korea Herald 2014
Leonardo da Vinci: 180
Art, engineering and science, 1452–1519
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 180 traces to Cox's 1926 corrected estimate from very thin records (reliability .20), not a test. Her raw ratings were 135 and 150; the 200-220 figures have no traceable study. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926 · Riot IQ 2026
Leonhard Euler: 180–200
Mathematics, 1707–1783
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test or scholarly IQ estimate exists. Euler is not among Cox's 301 subjects, and the 180–210 figures on list sites cite no source. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Internet Archive 1926 · MacTutor History of Mathematics, University of St Andrews · SAGE / Gifted Child Quarterly 2020
Lisa Kudrow: 154
Acting, 1963, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test record, statement by Kudrow or reported basis supports 154. A 2017 China Daily list attributed its figures to a Quora discussion. Documented: Vassar biology degree; co-author of a 1994 headache study. Biography
Sources: Wikipedia 2026
Ludwig van Beethoven: 165
Music composition, 1770–1827
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. The 165 traces to Cox's 1926 study: raters estimated 135 to age 17 and 140 for ages 17–26, and 165 is the reliability-corrected figure. A retrospective biographical estimate, not a test. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Internet Archive 1926 · Internet Archive 1926 · British Psychological Society 2009
Madonna: 140
Music, 1958, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No interview, memoir or test record giving 140 was found. CBS (2011) said she 'claims' it without citing a statement; a 2013 story credited a Mensa list that Mensa says it never issues. Biography
Sources: Mensa International · Wikipedia 2026 · Riot IQ (commercial IQ-test vendor; secondary trace)
Magnus Carlsen: 190
Chess, 1990, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test, statement by Carlsen, or published report supports 190. The figure appears on celebrity-IQ sites without a source; his documented record is chess, including the highest FIDE rating, 2882. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Wikipedia 2026 · Guinness World Records 2014
Marie Curie: 180-200
Physics and chemistry, 1867–1934
Verdict: No traceable source. No test record, first-person statement or scholarly estimate was found. List sites attribute 180-200 to unnamed 'experts'; Curie was born after the range of Cox's 1926 historical study. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
Marilyn vos Savant: 228
Writing (Parade 'Ask Marilyn' columnist), 1946, living
Verdict: Test on record. Guinness listed 228 (1985–1989), a ratio IQ from a 1956 Stanford-Binet taken at age 10. Ratio scores at extremes are not comparable to modern deviation IQs; Guinness retired the category in 1990. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Wikipedia 2026 · Riot IQ 2026 · PsyPost 2026
Mark Zuckerberg: 152
Technology (social media), 1984, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. The 152 figure appears on list and estimate sites attributed to unnamed experts, with no test, method or source; his reported SAT score is itself unconfirmed. Biography
Sources: Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne) · Wikipedia 2026
Marnen Laibow-Koser: 268
Music composition; web development, c. 1975, living
Verdict: No traceable source. 268 traces to an online ranking compiled by Libb Thims, republished by CEOWORLD (2016); Reader's Digest calls it a 'projected' score. No test, date, examiner or statement by Laibow-Koser is cited. Biography
Sources: Business Insider, where it circulates · CEOWORLD magazine, where it circulates
Matt Damon: 160
Acting and screenwriting, 1970, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test, interview or reported basis supports 160; list sites disagree (143 to 160) and cite none. Documented: Harvard English student 1988-92 who left before graduating; Oscar-winning co-writer of Good Will Hunting. Biography
Sources: The Harvard Crimson 2017 · Riot IQ (commercial IQ-test vendor; secondary trace)
Max Planck: 180
Physics, 1858–1947
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result or scholarly estimate exists for Max Planck. The 180 on social-media infographics cites no source; born in 1858, he falls outside Cox's 1926 study. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: NobelPrize.org · Stanford University Press / Internet Archive 1926
Mayim Bialik: 150–163
Television and neuroscience, 1975, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. Figures of 150 to 163 appear on celebrity-IQ aggregators without a named test. Documented: a UCLA PhD in neuroscience (2007).
Sources: Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne) · Wikipedia 2026
Michael Kearney: 200+
Anthropology and biochemistry (former child prodigy), 1984, living
Verdict: Reported, unverified. His parents' book Accidental Genius and Martha Morelock's Tufts thesis (both 1995), as cited by Wikipedia, report a Stanford-Binet score 'over 200'. No test record is public; the 325 that also circulates has no traceable basis. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Wikipedia 2026 · Los Angeles Times 1995 · Guinness World Records
Michelangelo: 180
Sculpture, painting, architecture, 1475–1564
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. Michelangelo never took an IQ test. The 180 is Cox's 1926 reliability-corrected estimate from biography; her uncorrected ratings were 145 (to age 17) and 160 (17–26), on data graded .43. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press / Internet Archive 1926 · ERIC / NYU Education Quarterly 1979 · IQ Comparison Site
Muhammad Ali: 78
Boxing, 1942–2016
Verdict: Reported, unverified. No clinical IQ test is on record. The 78 traces to press retellings of his failed 1964 military qualification test, reported at the 16th percentile; an FBI file cited by a biographer records 83. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: ArcaMax (syndicated column) 2016 · History News Network 2015 · The Guam Daily Post (postguam.com) 2017 (inferred)
Napoleon Bonaparte: 145
Military command and statecraft, 1769–1821
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. The 145 traces to Cox's 1926 study: raters estimated 135 to age 17 and 140 for ages 17–26; 145 is the corrected figure. A retrospective biographical estimate; higher list-site figures have no source. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Internet Archive 1926 · Internet Archive 1926 · SAGE / Gifted Child Quarterly 2020
Natalie Portman: 140
Acting, 1981, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test, interview or report with a named basis supports 140; it appears only on celebrity-IQ list sites. Her documented record is academic: Harvard class of 2003 and a 2002 NeuroImage co-authorship. Biography
Sources: NeuroImage (PubMed record) 2002 · Massachusetts General Hospital, Martinos Center 2002 · Harvard Gazette 2015
Nikola Tesla: 160-310
Electrical engineering and invention, 1856–1943
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test record, first-person statement or scholarly estimate exists. The figures come from online rankings and aggregator sites; Tesla was born after the range of Cox's 1926 historical study. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Riot IQ 2026 · Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
Nolan Gould: 150
Acting, 1998, living
Verdict: No traceable source. Entertainment Tonight (2012) cited a 'reported IQ of 150' with no source. Gould said in 2010 he had been a Mensa member since about age four; no test record or Mensa confirmation was found. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Entertainment Tonight 2012 · Smashing Interviews Magazine 2010 · Wikipedia 2026
Pythagoras: 180
Philosophy, mathematics, c. 570 BC–c. 495 BC
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ score or scholarly estimate exists for Pythagoras, who lived c. 570–c. 495 BC and left no writings. The 180 on list sites has no traceable test or study. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Wikipedia 2026 · Stanford University Press / Internet Archive 1926
Quentin Tarantino: 160
Film directing and screenwriting, 1963, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test record, examiner, date or on-record statement by Tarantino supports 160. It appears without a basis on list sites from 2009 and in a 2011 CBS gallery as 'reported'. Biography
Sources: Riot IQ (commercial IQ-test vendor; secondary trace) · Wikipedia 2026
René Descartes: 180
Philosophy and mathematics, 1596–1650
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 180 is Cox's 1926 corrected estimate from biographical records, not a test. Her raw ratings were 150 (birth to 17) and 160 (ages 17-26). Biography
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
Richard Feynman: 125
Theoretical physics, 1918–1988
Verdict: Reported, unverified. James Gleick's 1992 biography reports a school IQ score of 125 from Feynman's high-school years. The test and record have never been published; a teenage group-test score is not comparable with adult scores. Biography
Sources: Riot IQ 2026
Rick Rosner: 192
Television writing, 1960, living
Verdict: No traceable source. 192 appears in a 2012 'smartest people alive' infographic, credited to Super Scholar by Europa Press (2013), naming no test. Rosner reports Mega Test scores of 44 and 47; no source links them to 192.
Sources: The Good Men Project 2024 · Wikipedia 2026 · Boing Boing 2012
Rowan Atkinson: 178
Comedy and acting, 1955, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test, interview or reported basis supports 178; it appears on list sites without a source. Documented: Newcastle BSc in electrical and electronic engineering and an Oxford MSc in electrical engineering. Biography
Sources: The Queen's College, Oxford · Wikipedia 2026 · Riot IQ (commercial IQ-test vendor; secondary trace)
Sam Altman: 170
Artificial intelligence and business, 1985, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. The 170 figure traces to an estimate credited to 'DgFresh' on a company blog, with no test, method or examiner identified. Biography
Sources: Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne) · Malay Mail (AFP) 2023
Shakira: 140
Music, 1977, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test record or statement by Shakira supports 140. A 2011 CBS gallery called it 'reported'; a 2013 wire story credited a Mensa celebrity list, which Mensa says it never issues. Biography
Sources: Mensa International · CBS News / Associated Press 2007 · Riot IQ (commercial IQ-test vendor; secondary trace)
Sharon Stone: 154
Acting, 1958, living
Verdict: Reported, unverified. Playboy's 1992 interview introduction says her IQ 'tested at 154'; in the interview Stone says tests showed 'a high IQ' but gives no number. No test record has been published. Biography
Sources: Playboy (text on interviewer David Sheff's website) 1992 · Salon 2002 · Salon 1999
Sigmund Freud: 156
Neurology, psychoanalysis, 1856–1939
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result or scholarly estimate exists for Freud. The 156 on celebrity-IQ lists names no test, date or source, and Cox's 1926 study of people born 1450–1850 excludes him. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Stanford University Press / Internet Archive 1926 · Wikipedia 2026 · Wikipedia 2026
Srinivasa Ramanujan: 185
Mathematics, 1887–1920
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test or scholarly IQ estimate exists for Ramanujan. The 185 on list sites names no test, examiner or study, and he was born after the 1850 cutoff of Cox's historical study. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Riot IQ 2026 · Internet Archive 1926 · SAGE / Gifted Child Quarterly 2020
Stephen Hawking: 160
Theoretical physics and cosmology, 1942–2018
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. Asked about his IQ in 2004, Hawking said: 'I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers.' Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Today in Science History · Riot IQ 2026
Steve Jobs: 160
Technology and business, 1955–2011
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. No IQ test result is on record. The 160 comes from psychologist Jonathan Wai's 2011 ratio-IQ estimate based on a fourth-grade test; Wai noted it equals about 150 on a modern scale. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Psychology Today 2011 · Computerworld 2011 · ABC News 2011
Steve Martin: 142
Comedy, acting and writing, 1945, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No test record, statement by Martin or named basis supports 142, which list sites have labeled 'estimated' since at least 2009. No Mensa confirmation was found. Biography
Sources: Wikipedia 2026
Taylor Swift: 160
Music, 1989, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record, and Swift has not publicly discussed taking one. The 160 figure circulates on social media and clickbait sites with no named test or source. Biography
Sources: Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne) 2023/2025
Terence Tao: 225–230
Mathematics, 1975, living
Verdict: Test on record. Tao confirms a Stanford-Binet at age six scoring like a typical 14-year-old, implying a ratio IQ 'just over 220'. He calls the test noisy at that level and suggests 'greater than 175'. Biography
Sources: Terence Tao, What's new (blog) 2007 (page; addendum undated) · Duke Scholars record 2006 · PsyPost 2026
Thomas Jefferson: 160
Law, political philosophy, statecraft, 1743–1826
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 160 is Catharine Cox's 1926 corrected estimate for both age periods, reused by Simonton (2006). Her uncorrected figures were 145 and 150; their four-way average, 153.75, also circulates. No test exists. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Political Psychology (Wiley) 2006 · Stanford University Press (scan: Internet Archive) 1926 · IQ Comparison Site
Vitalik Buterin: 257
Cryptocurrency and computer science, 1994, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. The 257 figure appears on blogs and aggregator sites, including a 2023 Bitcoin News Asia headline, with no named test, examiner or source. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: University of Waterloo, Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing · Wikipedia 2026
Voltaire: 190
Literature and philosophy, 1694–1778
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. 190 is Cox's 1926 corrected estimate from biographical records, not a test. Her raw ratings were 170 (birth to 17) and 180 (ages 17-26). Biography
Sources: Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
Warren Buffett: 150
Investing and business, 1930, living
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result is on record. The 150 figure appears on aggregator sites with no named test; Buffett's own documented remarks about IQ concern investing thresholds, not his own score. Biography
Sources: Riot IQ (Russell T. Warne) · CNBC 2017 · The Motley Fool 2009
William James Sidis: 250-300
Mathematics and linguistics (child prodigy), 1898–1944
Verdict: Reported, unverified. The figure comes from psychologist Abraham Sperling's 1946 book, relaying Sidis's sister's account of an unnamed psychologist. No test, date, examiner or record has ever been documented. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Wikipedia 2026 · Sidis Archives (sidis.net) 1946 · Riot IQ
William Shakespeare: 210
Literature (drama and poetry), 1564–1616
Verdict: No traceable source. No test or scholarly estimate exists. Cox's 1926 study did not rate Shakespeare because his childhood is too poorly documented; the 210 figure has no traceable basis. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Gifted Child Quarterly 2020 · Stanford University Press (Internet Archive scan) 1926
Winston Churchill: 150
Politics and statecraft; history writing, 1874–1965
Verdict: No traceable source. No IQ test result or scholarly estimate exists for Churchill. The 150 (and 151) online names no test, date or examiner; born in 1874, he falls outside Cox's 1926 study. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Wikipedia 2026 · International Churchill Society 2008 · Stanford University Press / Internet Archive 1926
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: 165
Music composition, 1756–1791
Verdict: Scholarly estimate. The 165 traces to Cox's 1926 study: raters estimated 150 to age 17 and 155 for ages 17–26, and 165 is the reliability-corrected figure. A retrospective estimate from biographies, not a test. Biography · Full IQ profile
Sources: Internet Archive 1926 · Internet Archive 1926 · British Psychological Society 2009
Methodology
Research was carried out on 7 October 2026 with AI research tools under the editor's direction. The list combines the 60 people whose IQ Geniuses.club readers search for most, measured in Google Search Console over 90 days, with the names that recur on widely shared "highest IQ" and "celebrity IQ" lists. For each person we identified the figure that circulates most widely, traced it to the earliest origin we could document, and applied one of the four labels above. Every cited source was opened and read. A second, independent review re-checked 47 entries against the opened sources — every entry about a living person and every entry labelled "Test on record" or "Reported, unverified"; 9 entries were corrected before publication, two of them relabelled from "Reported, unverified" to "No traceable source".
For Cox (1926), the uncorrected ratings were checked in the scanned text of The Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses (Stanford University Press). Her reliability-corrected figures come from her fold-out Table 12A, which is not legible in the public scan; we quote them as tabulated by secondary sources and say so.
Excluded by rule: anyone under 18, and living politicians. A further 29 names were checked but are held for the next update, either because no figure circulates widely or because circulation could not yet be confirmed.
Limitations
The absence of a record is not proof that no test was ever taken; it means no test can be verified. "Circulates most widely" reflects the lists, aggregators and search results we examined, not a full census of the web. Some primary documents could not be opened online, and are flagged in the data. Old ratio scores, high-range society tests and military aptitude tests are not equivalent to a modern adult IQ score; where a figure rests on one of them, the verdict says so.
How to cite
Geniuses.club, "Famous IQ Claims, Fact-Checked", October 2026, https://geniuses.club/article/famous-iq-claims-fact-checked. The dataset is free to reuse under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 with credit to Geniuses.club.
Corrections
Found an error, or a primary source we missed? Write to press@geniuses.club with the entry and the source. We correct and date every change.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Albert Einstein's IQ?
No one knows. No IQ test result for Einstein exists, he never published one, and he was born too late for Catharine Cox's 1926 study. The widely quoted 160 has no traceable origin.
Who has the highest IQ ever recorded?
Guinness listed Marilyn vos Savant at 228 from 1985 to 1989. The figure is a ratio score from a Stanford-Binet test she took at age 10, not comparable with modern adult scores, and Guinness retired the category in 1990.
Is Elon Musk's IQ 155?
There is no IQ test result for Elon Musk on record. The 155 traces to an unsourced list on a website called Sociosite and was repeated from there.
Did Garry Kasparov take an IQ test?
Yes. Tests arranged by Der Spiegel in 1987 gave him 135 on an Eysenck intelligence test and 123 on Raven's Progressive Matrices. The 190 that circulates online has no test behind it.
Where do IQ numbers for historical geniuses come from?
Almost all come from Catharine Cox's 1926 study, which estimated IQs for 301 people born between 1450 and 1850 from biographical records. They are retrospective estimates, not test results.
For journalists
Interviews: Adir Trabelsi, founder and editor of Geniuses.club. Source files for every entry, and custom cuts of the data (living people only, a single field, a single country), are available on request at press@geniuses.club.
Want to see where you stand yourself? Geniuses.club's free IQ test suite reports a range and a percentile, not a single magic number.