Top 10 smartest people who has the highest IQ in the world. just how smart is smart? 50% of people have IQ scores between 90 and 110 2.5% of people are mentally deficient or impaired as under 70 IQ and 4.5% of people are near genius or genius over 140 IQ.
Let’s check out the full list of the top 10 highest IQ ever recorded.
List of people who has the highest IQ in the world
#10: James Woods
- IQ Score: 180 (Alleged)
- Country: USA
- Age: 76 (born April 18, 1947)
- Achievements & Rewards: Acclaimed actor with multiple awards including Emmy and Golden Globe.
- Unique Quality: Known for his high SAT scores and admission to MIT
James Woods is a movie, television, and stage actor. He has won two Emmy Awards for his performances in “Promise” and “My Name is Bill W.” and has been nominated twice for the Academy Awards.
Aside from acting, Woods is also some sort of math whiz, having studied linear algebra at UCLA while he was still in high school. He was also a full scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before the acting bug hit him. He has also been part of many episodes of “Family Guy,” where he is seemingly revered as a god.
#9: Gary Kasparov
- IQ Score: 190 (Alleged)
- Country: Russia
- Age: 61 (born April 13, 1963)
- Achievements & Rewards: Youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion at age 22, held the title for 15 years.
- Unique Quality: Renowned for his strategic brilliance and extensive opening preparation in chess
Gary Kasparov has totally amazed the world when he played to a draw against a chess computer that could calculate 3 million positions per second in 2003. He is a chess grandmaster from Russia who became the youngest undisputed world champion when he was 22 years old.
He beat the then-champion Anatoly Karpov after a grueling duel in 1985. Kasparov was recognized as the classical world champion until 2000 when he was defeated by Vladimir Kramnik. Still, he holds the record for the longest reign at number one.
#8: Marilyn vos Savant
- IQ Score: 190 (Verified)
- Country: USA
- Age: 77 (born August 11, 1946)
- Achievements & Rewards: Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for highest IQ, columnist for Parade magazine.
- Unique Quality: Known for her “Ask Marilyn” column where she answers complex questions
In 1985, the Guinness Book of Records accepted Vos Savant’s IQ score of 190 and, according to marilynvossavant.com, crowned her the woman with the highest IQ for five consecutive years. She has tested as high as 228 on various IQ tests. She is a popular columnist for Parade Magazine.
Through “Ask Marilyn,” readers can send puzzles and questions on different subjects for Vos Savant to solve and answer. Her IQ was the last recognized highest IQ by Guinness before the category was retired in 1990.
7: Mislav Predavec
- IQ Score: 192 (Alleged)
- Country: Croatia
- Age: 56 (born 1968)
- Achievements & Rewards: Ranked third on the list of the 20 most intelligent people in the world.
- Unique Quality: Mathematics professor and founder of a trading company
The Croatian maths professor Mislav Predavec ranked seventh on the list of the 10 most intelligent people in the world. Predavec is the founder and president of the GenerIQ Society, an elite organization of some of the most intelligent people in the world. He loves rock music, particularly the songs of Pink Floyd, and the arts, specifically the works of Leonardo da Vinci.
#6: Rick Rosner
- IQ Score: 192 (Alleged)
- Country: USA
- Age: 64 (born May 2, 1960)
- Achievements & Rewards: Television writer and reality TV personality.
- Unique Quality: Known for his unconventional career choices including being a stripper and bouncer
Gifted with an amazing IQ of 192, by simply looking, Rick Rosner would not be thought of as one of the most intelligent people in the world. He has a rough and tough demeanor, having spent a number of years as a bar bouncer.
He has also worked as one of those waiters who go around in roller skates. In addition, Rosner has no qualms showing off his body, having been a stripper and nude model in the past.
#5: Christopher Michael Langan
- IQ Score: 195 (Verified)
- Country: USA
- Age: 72 (born March 25, 1952)
- Achievements & Rewards: Developed the “Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe” (CTMU).
- Unique Quality: Self-taught and known as “the smartest man in America”
Christopher Langan is an American autodidact with an IQ reported to be between 195 and 210. He has been described as the smartest man in America by the media. He began talking at 6 months and taught himself to read when he was three. He has developed a theory of the relationship between mind and reality, which he calls the cognitive-theoretic model of the universe, or CTMU.
#4: Evangelos Katsioulis
- IQ Score: 198 (Alleged)
- Country: Greece
- Age: 47 (born 1977)
- Achievements & Rewards: Psychiatrist with multiple degrees in various fields.
- Unique Quality: Founder of several high IQ societies
Dr. Evangelos Katsioulis is a Greek national who works as a psychiatrist. He has earned degrees in three fields: philosophy, medical research technology, and psychopharmacology. Katsioulis is also a good painter and a decent swimmer. He also indulges in a lot of traveling.
#4: Kim Ung-Yong
- IQ Score: 210 (Verified)
- Country: South Korea
- Age: 62 (born March 8, 1962)
- Achievements & Rewards: Worked at NASA at age 8, entered university at age 4.
- Unique Quality: Child prodigy who spoke multiple languages by age 2
At the age of 6 months, Kim Ung-Yong was able to speak and understand Korean and other languages. At the age of 3 years, he could read several languages already, including Korean,
Japanese, German, and English, as well as solve complex calculus problems, as exposed live on Japanese television. He was already auditing college courses when he was four. NASA then invited him to study in the US when he was eight. By the time he was a teenager, he was already working for them.
#3: Christopher Hirata
- IQ Score: 225 (Verified)
- Country: USA
- Age: 41 (born November 30, 1982)
- Achievements & Rewards: Gold medalist at the International Physics Olympiad at age 13, PhD from Princeton.
- Unique Quality: Worked with NASA on projects related to Mars colonization at age 16
At the age of 13, Christopher Hirata made waves by getting a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad. At the age of 16, he was working with NASA on its mission of conquering Mars. By the time he was 22 years old, he was able to earn his PhD from Princeton. He has been working for NASA’s project on how to colonize Mars.
#2: Terence Tao
- IQ Score: 230 (Verified)
- Country: Australia
- Age: 49 (born July 17, 1975)
- Achievements & Rewards: Fields Medalist, youngest participant to win a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad.
- Unique Quality: Prodigy in mathematics with significant contributions to number theory and other fields
Gifted with an amazing IQ of 230, Terence Tao makes it to this list as the most intelligent person in the world. He is a mathematician of Australian and American roots. If you think that math is hard enough.
just take a peek into the subfields that Tao is involved with additive combinatorics, Analytic number theory, ergodic Ramsey theory, and harmonic analysis, to name a few. He got his PhD when he was only 20 from Princeton and became a full professor at UCLA when he was 24. He has already published 230 research papers.
#1. YoungHoon Kim
- Name: YoungHoon Kim (김영훈)
- IQ Score: 276 (Verified)
- Country: South Korea
- Age: 35 (born May 25, 1989)
- Achievements & Rewards: World Memory Championships: Scored 276, setting a new record
- Founder: United Sigma Intelligence Association, a non-profit group of over 100 intelligent individuals worldwide, including professors from
YoungHoon Kim, a South Korean intellectual, holds the highest recorded IQ score of 276. Born on May 25, 1989, he has been recognized by multiple organizations, including the Korea Record Institute, World Genius Directory, Global Genius Registry, Esoteriq Society, and GIGA Society. His remarkable IQ was verified during the World Memory Championships, an international event where highly intelligent individuals compete in various cognitive challenges.
Kim is a graduate of Yonsei University in Seoul and is the only Korean member of both the Mega Society and the Giga Society, which accept members with exceptionally high IQs. He is also the founder of the United Sigma Intelligence Association, a non-profit organization comprising over 100 intelligent individuals worldwide, including professors from prestigious universities like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. His work focuses on using his talents to improve global brainpower and contribute to intellectual research.
In addition to his academic and intellectual achievements, Kim has gained recognition for his participation in various mind sports. The World Mind Sports Council, which organizes events like the World Memory Championships, World Speed Reading Championships, and World Mind Mapping Championships, has acknowledged his exceptional abilities. Kim’s dedication to advancing human intelligence and his record-breaking IQ make him a prominent figure in the world of high IQ societies and intellectual pursuits.
FAQ’s
who has the highest iq in the world?
As of 2024, YoungHoon Kim from South Korea holds the highest recorded IQ, with a score of 276
what country has the highest IQ?
Japan has the highest average IQ, with a score of 106.48
what was the highest iq ever recorded?
The highest IQ ever recorded is 276, achieved by YoungHoon Kim.
what’s the highest iq score?
IQ tests typically have a maximum score around 200, but exceptional cases like Marilyn vos Savant have recorded scores as high as 228.
Who has the highest IQ in 2024?
As of 2024, YoungHoon Kim from South Korea holds the highest recorded IQ, with a score of 276
Who is the smartest person in the world?
Terence Tao is often regarded as the smartest person in the world due to his exceptionally high IQ and significant contributions to mathematics.