Scientists Find the World’s Wealthiest May Be Less Intelligent Than Lower-Paid People

A new study including nearly 60,000 Swedish men found that intelligence is directly correlated with how high someone’s income can be, but only up to a certain point. In fact, the study highlights that the ultra-rich scored slightly lower on cognitive tests than those people who earn just below them.

This suggests that intelligence may be important in determining someone’s earning capability, but it is not the full story. Because extreme wealth, or those people who are called billionaires, often had other factors working in their favor, such as luck, inheritance, or the right environment.

Intelligence Matters—Until It Doesn’t

For incomes between low and moderate, usually below 60,000 euros a year, the higher the IQ one has, the better the wages they have achieved. However, based on the study, once you cross the €60K threshold, this does not hold anymore.

The richest individuals are not necessarily smarter than the people just below them in earnings. This simply tells us that there are other factors at play, especially if the relationship between IQ and wages has become too weak to be correlated. At this point, qualities beyond intelligence are much more important to reach extreme wealth.

Read more: Science Direct

Why the Rich May Score Lower

Why Dumb People Earn More Than Smart People

The world’s richest people are not usually the smartest group; they are not Doctors, Scientists, Engineers, or other professionals, although these individuals are subjectively rich in their own right, too, most are just not in the billionaire level wealth. The top earners usually already have some trust funds, investments, and businesses that they will inherit.

Due to their more comfortable circumstances, risk-taking and timing become much more crucial, just like how Facebook outdid Friendsters, or YouTube beating Vine. Raw intelligence can still be important, but results from IQ can plateau, while wealth can skyrocket if one has capital, connections, or can take entrepreneurial gambles with high payoff.

Broader Backing from Research

Other studies find that while IQ and income share a moderate correlation, IQ and Net worth or someone’s total wealth correlation may be limited. It is understandable, after all, income is not inheritable and depends on a lot of factors, but wealth could be.

Being intelligent does not guarantee that someone will be wealthy; however, some traits are still important to reach extreme wealth, which are financial education, risk-taking appetite, and even luck. Ultimately, nothing is a guarantee; you could do everything right and still not be able to be as rich as Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, because luck plays a crucial role, and a study already suggested it.

Read more: IFLScience

The Role of Luck and Environment

A study published by Cornell University argues that luck plays a massive role in extreme success, and could sometimes outweigh talent. As a society, we often fail to understand that there are external factors at play that we can not control. Some degree of talent is still a necessity to be successful, but we will often find that the most talented people in the population are not always the richest.

The wealthiest people on Earth have diverse factors working for them, not just their raw intelligence, education, and occupation, but also the networks that their parents made for them or their inheritance that could come in various forms, in other words, luck.

If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?

Author's Final Thoughts

Do not misunderstand this article; it is not saying that intelligence does not matter. Because if you think Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and other billionaires do not have an above-average IQ, you are mistaken. They are still some of the most intelligent humans to have ever existed. However, the world’s richest, just like them, probably had more than just intelligence.

Read more: Scientist Brian Cox: “The Biggest Threat To Our Planet Is Human Stupidity”