Think Einstein and Newton still define the summit of genius? Two living outliers are quietly unsettling that peak and the very yardstick used to measure it.
Two contemporaries sit at the summit of high-IQ rankings with résumés as outsized as their scores. Terence Tao, Australian-born and a UCLA professor since 21, pairs a Fields Medal with deep work from number theory to PDEs and an IQ measured at 230. Kim Young-hoon of South Korea, who recorded 276 after the World Memory Championships, belongs to the Mega Society and Giga Society and founded the United Sigma Intelligence Association. Combined, their totals push past 500, a number that on IQ scales outstrips the estimates for Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton.
Terence Tao and Kim Young-hoon: The geniuses surpassing Einstein and Newton
What does it take to be measured against Einstein or Newton? Two living minds, Terence Tao and Kim Young-hoon, have become reference points, their reported IQs together topping 500. IQ is only one lens, imperfect yet provocative. Follow the trail of achievements, appointments, and community building, and you meet a portrait of human intellect that feels both rare and remarkably grounded. Their stories intersect at the frontier of sheer mental agility.
Terence Tao: The ‘Mozart of Math’
Born in 1975 in Australia to Hong Kong parents, Terence Tao was solving advanced problems while most kids learned fractions. By 9, he was taking university math courses. He earned a master’s at Flinders University, then a doctorate at Princeton by 20. At 21, he became a professor at UCLA, a leap that still startles seasoned academics.
Tao’s output is staggering: over 300 peer-reviewed papers and deep advances in number theory, combinatorics, harmonic analysis and partial differential equations. His IQ is often cited as 230, though he’s known to prefer proofs over profiles. The world took note with the Fields Medal in 2006. In 2021, he joined President Biden’s science advisory council, underscoring his real-world influence.
Kim Young-hoon: The newcomer breaking records
In 2024, Kim Young-hoon vaulted into headlines with an IQ reportedly measured at 276 after excelling at the World Memory Championships (according to the Korea Herald). Organizers verified the score following his win. A Yonsei University graduate, Kim, 35, belongs to both the Mega Society and the Giga Society, groups that admit only exceptional scorers.
Kim also founded the United Sigma Intelligence Association, a nonprofit connecting bright minds from universities like Harvard, Princeton and Yale. In addition to feats of recall, he is building a community where high performers share methods, projects and momentum. This is the case when raw scoring meets networks, and ambition turns into scaffolding for others.
Understanding IQ and historical comparisons
IQ groupings typically follow the Wechsler scale, a statistical model that centers on population averages. The bands help translate raw scores into context:
- 69 and below: extremely low
- 70 to 79: borderline
- 80 to 89: low average
- 90 to 109: average
- 110 to 119: high average
- 120 to 129: superior
- 130 and above: very superior
Tao and Kim’s reported IQs outstrip figures often attributed to Albert Einstein at 160 and Isaac Newton at 190 (these are retrospective estimates). Comparisons are tempting, yet tests, eras and definitions differ. Even so, their records, from medal-winning mathematics to championship memory and institution building, suggest a broader lesson: capacity grows where discipline, community and curiosity meet.