What Is the Highest IQ Possible and Who Holds the World Record?

What do Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Judit Polgár have in common? They are a handful of humans with high IQs.

But the curious always ask, “what is the highest possible IQ you can achieve?“

In this article, we’ll be answering questions about IQ:

• What Is IQ?
• What Are the Ranges of IQ Scores?
• What Is the Highest IQ Possible?
• Who Has the Highest IQ Score Ever Recorded?
• Increase Your Intelligence Score

Ready to discover who has the highest IQ recorded and how you can enhance your intelligence level? Read on.

What Is IQ?

An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a concept coined by the American psychologist Lewis Terman in 1916. Lewis conducted the first intelligence test on American soldiers during World War I.

In addition to measuring how much information you know and the highest IQ score you can get, these tests also analyze your brain’s learning capacity.

Intelligence tests examine your overall cognitive functions, including:

• analytical thinking
• short-term memory
• logical reasoning
• spatial recognition

While the scores do show the highest IQ score you can get, these tests primarily measure your left-brain characteristics compared to other people of your age group.

What Are the Ranges of IQ Scores?

Since IQ tests are divided into sections to test different cognitive functions, you may excel in certain sections and score lower in others. This is entirely normal and nothing to worry about. We each have our strengths and abilities regardless of the highest possible IQ we can get.

The most commonly used scoring method for these tests is Binet’s equation. According to Binet, to measure someone’s ability to learn or potential to succeed, you need to know two things: a person’s chronological and mental age.

Your chronological age is your current age, and your mental age is your cognitive abilities relative to what others can do of different ages. 

The equation used to calculate a person’s IQ score is a ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100. On most modern IQ tests, the average score will be 100, and the standard deviation of scores will be 15.

There are several tests to classify the highest IQ a person can get, the most widely used being the Wechsler Intelligence Scales and Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale.

IQ Range	IQ Classification
130 and above	Very Superior
120–129	Superior
110–119	High Average
90–109	Average
80–89	Low Average
70–79	Borderline
69 and below	Extremely Low

Average IQ score

Although there are variations in intelligence tests, the average score on most IQ tests is 100.

For the majority of test-takers, their highest IQ score will lie within the middle range between 85 and 115. Whatever falls under this range, is considered to be low IQ scores.

High IQ score

An above-average IQ score is 116 or more. And only a small fraction of test-takers has a high average score.

However, this isn’t the highest IQ you can have.

What Is the Highest IQ Possible?

In a manner of speaking, there’s no maximum number to an IQ score.

There are many tests that measure intelligence, like the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Because these tests have evolved over the years, it’s difficult to compare results from different eras.

So, it is commonly accepted that if you score 130 or higher, it signals that you have a superior IQ and you’re amongst the 2% in the world that has the highest IQ possible.

Who Has the Highest IQ Score Ever Recorded?

Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Judit Polgár had intelligence scores between 160-170, which put them in a very elite group of people with the highest IQ scores ever recorded.

There have been several ‘geniuses’ in our history. But with no absolute score limit, it makes one wonder what’s the highest IQ ever recorded and who holds the title?

Person #1: Grigori Perelman

The most recent title of the highest IQ goes to the Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman. His score is 238.

His greatest academic contribution to date is Thurston’s Geometrization Conjecture: the solution to the famously challenging mathematical hypothesis, the Poincaré Conjecture.

Person #2: Marilyn vos Savant

Marilyn vos Savant is an American magazine columnist. She was 10 years old when her test revealed a score of 228, the highest ever recorded by the World Book of Guinness Records.

(Unfortunately, the company removed the category in 1990 because the numbers are considered inaccurate.) 

Person #3: Christopher Hirata 

Christopher Hirata is an American astronomy professor at Ohio State University, known as a child prodigy. His IQ score is 225.

At the age of 13, he got a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad in 1996, worked for NASA at the age of 16, and got a Ph.D. from Princeton when he was 22. 

There are several other notable geniuses:

• Adhara Pérez, student: 162
• Nikola Tesla, inventor: 160 – 300
• Marie Curie, scientist: 180 – 200
• Sir Isaac Newton, physicist: 190 – 200
• Sho Yano, physician: 200
• William Sidis, mathematician: 200 – 300
• Terrence Tao, mathematician: 211 – 230

Increase Your Intelligence Score

Some believe intelligence is set in stone. What you’re born with is what you’ve got. Right?

Wrong. It is possible to attain your highest possible IQ. 

On top of that, your IQ score doesn’t consider different types of intelligence such as musical, linguistical, and interpersonal intelligence.

Here are some ways to improve your cognitive abilities:

• Learn speed reading if your job requires reading a lot of documents and non-fiction books.
• For game and trivia lovers, set aside five to ten minutes a day and play brain teasers and puzzles like Sudoku. These brain teasers really give your intelligence quotient a quick boost!
• To have more fun trying to reach the highest IQ you can have, try these awesome brain games. Keep things fun and consistent by switching up the games. Schedule different kinds of brain training exercises on a weekly basis.

According to a world-renowned memory and brain coach Jim Kwik, our brain is a muscle. It’s not about mental intelligence. It’s about mental fitness.

In other words, anyone can unlock their superbrain if they train it consistently. 

And if you want to learn faster and comprehend more, join the Discover 10 Brain Hacks to Learn Fast FREE Masterclass with Jim Kwik.