Two men, enormous influence, major businesses and even bigger headlines. Online, both Elon Musk and Donald Trump are credited with extraordinary IQ scores. Musk supposedly has an IQ of 155 or even 160. For Trump, the claims range from 73 to 156, depending on the source. None of these figures comes from a publicly verified intelligence test.
There is no scientific basis for declaring a winner. The honest answer is that we do not know.
That may sound anticlimactic. But the comparison reveals how easily career success, university degrees and public appearances can be turned into supposedly precise IQ scores.
Further reading:
The battle of the supposed geniuses
At first glance, the numbers circulating online can seem surprisingly plausible. Elon Musk has helped shape businesses in electric vehicles, spaceflight, artificial intelligence and neurotechnology. Donald Trump turned his name into an international brand, became a television star and was elected president of the United States twice.
Those careers do not reveal a particular IQ score.
It takes only a few minutes online to come across very different claims:
- Elon Musk: a supposed IQ of 155, 160 or 165
- Donald Trump: a supposed IQ of 156
- Donald Trump in other posts: a supposed IQ of 73
The fact that Trump is portrayed as either a genius or far below average, depending on a source’s political leanings, should raise doubts. A properly measured IQ does not change by more than 80 points because a different writer is discussing it. Looking at where these numbers come from exposes how little evidence supports them.
What is Elon Musk’s IQ?
Elon Musk’s IQ is not publicly known. There is no verifiable test report establishing which intelligence test he supposedly took, when he took it or under what conditions.
The frequently quoted figure of 155 is usually repeated without a credible original source. Some websites cite alleged results from the SAT, a test used in U.S. college admissions. Others derive the number directly from Musk’s career. Repetition can make the figure seem more credible without adding any evidence.
What is documented is that Musk studied physics and economics at the University of Pennsylvania.[1] A physics degree requires mathematical, analytical and subject-specific skills. It does not tell us the graduate’s exact IQ.
Graduates of the same degree program do not all achieve the same intelligence test score. Career success also depends on many other factors:
- knowledge and experience
- motivation and persistence
- creativity
- willingness to take risks
- financial resources
- personal and professional networks
- employees and business partners
- favorable or unfavorable circumstances
Musk’s career makes strong abilities in certain areas plausible. It provides no basis for assigning him an IQ of exactly 155 or 160.
Fact check: The IQ score commonly attributed to Elon Musk is not a publicly verified test result.
Is Elon Musk intellectually gifted?
An IQ of 130 or above on an appropriate intelligence test is commonly used as a threshold for intellectual giftedness. Without a documented result, we cannot establish whether Elon Musk meets that criterion.
His education and business achievements suggest notable abilities. They cannot substitute for a standardized assessment. Publicly available information does not scientifically establish that Musk is intellectually gifted in this sense.
This does not tell us whether Musk has average or above-average intelligence. We simply lack the required test result.
What is Donald Trump’s IQ?
Donald Trump’s IQ is not publicly documented either. Two sharply contrasting figures appear particularly often: 73 and 156.
The claim that Trump scored 73 on an IQ test while at school circulated with a purported historical newspaper clipping. Fact-checking organizations investigated the story and found no supporting evidence. Full Fact explicitly described the claim as unsubstantiated, while PolitiFact rated it false.[2][3]
Snopes also identified the supposed Fordham University report card shared online as a fake.[4]
The alleged score of 156 has no published test report behind it either. It is often linked to Trump’s education at the Wharton School or to supposed results from earlier admissions tests. Trump graduated in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. That qualification cannot be converted into IQ points or treated as the result of a standardized intelligence test.
Fact check: Neither the IQ of 73 nor the score of 156 attributed to Donald Trump is scientifically substantiated.
Was Trump’s cognitive test an IQ test?
Donald Trump does have a documented result from a cognitive assessment. According to published medical information, he scored 30 out of 30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA.[5]
This result is sometimes presented as evidence of exceptional intelligence. That interpretation confuses two different types of assessment.
The MoCA is a brief cognitive screening tool designed to identify signs of possible cognitive impairment. According to its developers, the full version has a maximum score of 30 and takes approximately ten minutes to complete.[6]
The MoCA looks for indications that certain cognitive functions may be impaired. An intelligence test compares a person’s performance across cognitive tasks with an appropriate reference group.
A MoCA score of 30 out of 30 therefore does not mean an IQ of 130, 150 or 160. There is no meaningful way to convert it into an IQ score.
Can you calculate IQ from an SAT score?
Academic aptitude tests are more relevant to this discussion than degrees or career achievements. Research has found that scores on the U.S. SAT can correlate strongly with general cognitive ability.[7]
That statistical relationship does not mean the tests measure exactly the same thing or that their scores can be freely converted into one another.
For an estimate to have a reasonable basis, we would need to know at least:
- the person’s authentic, complete SAT result;
- the version of the test they took;
- the year and the reference group used at the time;
- how that test version relates to an established intelligence test;
- the statistical uncertainty involved in the conversion.
Even then, the outcome would be an estimate with a corresponding range of uncertainty, rather than an IQ obtained through direct intelligence testing.
For Trump and Musk, sufficiently reliable public information is missing from the outset. Calculating an IQ of exactly 155 or 156 from an alleged SAT score suggests a level of precision the underlying evidence cannot support.
Can you estimate a famous person’s IQ?
Researchers can investigate statistical relationships between test results, educational achievement and other characteristics. This can tell us something about larger groups.
It does not provide enough information to assign an IQ to an individual public figure retrospectively. Knowing someone’s degree, for example, does not tell us exactly where they fall within the wide range of people who hold that qualification.
Conclusions drawn from interviews, speeches, financial success or secondhand accounts are even less reliable. That information was not collected under standardized conditions and may have been selectively presented.
Any retrospective estimate would involve considerable uncertainty. It could not justify a precise claim such as “IQ 155.”
Public appearances do not measure intelligence
Elon Musk talks about rockets, artificial intelligence and settling on Mars. Donald Trump addresses large crowds, dominates headlines and uses a deliberately simple, recognizable speaking style.
Watching the two, you may quickly form an opinion about who seems more intelligent. That impression depends heavily on which abilities you personally associate with intelligence.
An interview is not a standardized testing situation. It may be rehearsed, edited or strategically staged. Knowledge, personality, speaking style, stress, age, how someone feels that day and familiarity with the subject can all influence the impression they make.
Someone can be exceptionally capable in one area and make surprising mistakes in another. That applies to all of us, not just prominent businesspeople or politicians.
A few insightful remarks do not prove an exceptionally high IQ. A few incorrect or clumsy statements do not prove a low one either.
Success is not the same as intelligence
A common assumption is:
This person is exceptionally successful, so they must have an exceptionally high IQ.
Career success arises from a combination of personal qualities and circumstances. Cognitive abilities can contribute, but wealth, election victories and company valuations cannot be converted into IQ points.
A successful entrepreneur needs a different mix of skills from a theoretical physicist. A successful politician works under different conditions from a programmer or mathematician. Assertiveness, confidence, communication skills, resilience and a willingness to take substantial risks matter in many careers. A conventional intelligence test captures little or none of these qualities.
Even a very high IQ does not automatically lead to financial success, political power or public recognition.
What would a genuine IQ comparison require?
A scientifically meaningful comparison would be possible in principle. Musk and Trump would need to take a suitable intelligence test with appropriate norms under comparable conditions.
That would require, among other things:
- a test supported by scientific research;
- standardized administration;
- controlled, comparable testing conditions;
- several different types of cognitive tasks;
- appropriate age-based norms;
- proper scoring and interpretation;
- a statement of measurement uncertainty.
The result would compare their performance on the abilities the test actually measures. It would not provide a definitive verdict on who is the “smarter person.”[8]
The interpretation would also need to include uncertainty, rather than treating the score as perfectly precise. A small difference in points would not automatically establish that one person is more intelligent than the other.
Trump vs. Musk: Education and career achievements compared
So far, the conclusion is clear: the available evidence does not allow a sound IQ comparison.
We can still put Trump and Musk side by side in a friendly contest, provided it is understood as a thought experiment rather than a psychological assessment.
A note on the comparison: The table below considers publicly known qualifications, achievements and roles. It is intended as an entertaining comparison, uses no standardized criteria and tells us nothing about either person’s actual IQ.
| Category | Elon Musk | Donald Trump | Our point goes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breadth of academic education | Degrees in physics and economics | Degree in economics | Musk, for his additional education in the natural sciences |
| Building and leading technology companies | SpaceX and Tesla are central to his career | His career began in real estate, which remains a major part of his assets | Musk, for the stronger technological focus of his career |
| Estimated net worth according to Forbes, as of September 8, 2026 | Approximately US$938 billion | Approximately US$7 billion | Musk, for his substantially larger estimated net worth |
| Presidential election victories | No presidential election victories of his own | Won the U.S. presidential elections in 2016 and 2024 | Trump, for his documented electoral success |
| Career in television entertainment | No comparable focus in his career | Host and executive producer of The Apprentice, with two Emmy nominations as a producer | Trump, for his established television career |
| Our bonus-round result | 3 points | 2 points | Elon Musk |
Elon Musk wins our career comparison 3–2. He takes the points for the breadth of his education, his career in technology businesses and his larger estimated net worth. Donald Trump wins the categories for election victories and television entertainment.
This is an editorial comparison of success, not an IQ test. It places selected milestones and outcomes from two unusual careers side by side. It does not systematically account for different starting conditions, personal setbacks or the contributions of employees and business partners.
Conclusion: Who has the higher IQ?
We can count the points in our career comparison. The original question about IQ remains unanswered because the necessary test results are missing.
Neither man has a publicly verified result from a standardized intelligence test. The figures of 155 or 160 often attributed to Elon Musk are no better substantiated than the scores of 73 or 156 attributed to Donald Trump. Trump’s Montreal Cognitive Assessment result cannot be converted into an IQ either.
The 3–2 outcome of our bonus round therefore establishes no advantage in intelligence. Education, wealth, business achievements and election victories describe different aspects of their lives. How they would perform on comparable cognitive tasks remains unknown.
If you are curious about your own performance, you can take our free IQ test. The result provides a statistical indication based on the tasks included and is not a psychological diagnosis.
Frequently asked questions
What is Elon Musk’s IQ?
Elon Musk’s IQ is not publicly known. The frequently quoted scores of 155 or 160 are not verified results from a documented intelligence test.
Is Elon Musk intellectually gifted?
This cannot be established without an appropriate intelligence test. Musk’s education and career achievements may suggest particular abilities, but they do not demonstrate an IQ of at least 130.
What is Donald Trump’s IQ?
Donald Trump’s IQ is not publicly known either. Both the alleged score of 73 and the figure of 156 are unsubstantiated.
Who has the higher IQ: Elon Musk or Donald Trump?
Publicly available information does not establish an answer. Neither man has a verified IQ test result available to the public.
Has Donald Trump passed an IQ test?
A very good result on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment is publicly documented. The MoCA screens for possible cognitive impairment; it is not an IQ test.
Can an SAT score be used to estimate IQ?
SAT scores can correlate with general cognitive ability. They cannot be directly converted into a precise individual IQ. An estimate would also require an authentic result, the test version, the year it was taken and an appropriate comparison study.
Does career success indicate a high IQ?
Cognitive abilities can contribute to career success. Success also depends on personality, motivation, expertise, willingness to take risks, networks, financial resources and external circumstances. An exact IQ cannot be inferred from those achievements.
References
- Knowledge at Wharton Staff. (2016, February 18). A Stranger in a Strange Land: Will Elon Musk Make It to Mars?. Knowledge at Wharton. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
- Full Fact. (2025, June 11). No evidence Donald Trump scored 73 on an IQ test. [Fact check].
- Putterman, S. (2019, May 14). Social media post sharing newspaper story of Trump having a 73 IQ is fake. PolitiFact. [Fact check].
- Evon, D. (2019, March 8). Is This President Trump’s Report Card from Fordham University?. Snopes. [Fact check].
- The White House. (2025, April 13). Memorandum from the White House Physician [Medical memorandum], p. 2, “Neurological” section.
- MoCA Cognition. (n.d.). MoCA Full. In Paper. Cognitive screening for mild cognitive impairment. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
- Frey, M. C., & Detterman, D. K. (2004). Scholastic assessment or g? The relationship between the Scholastic Assessment Test and general cognitive ability. Psychological Science, 15(6), 373–378. DOI: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00687.x. PubMed record.
- Benson, E. (2003, February 1). Intelligent intelligence testing. Monitor on Psychology, 34(2), 48. American Psychological Association. Online article.
- Forbes. (n.d.). Elon Musk. Continuously updated biography and net worth profile. Retrieved September 8, 2026.
- Forbes. (n.d.). Donald Trump. Continuously updated biography and net worth profile. Retrieved September 8, 2026.
- National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). 2016 Electoral College Results. Official election results; page last reviewed January 11, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
- National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). 2024 Electoral College Results. Official election results; page last reviewed January 13, 2025. Retrieved September 9, 2026.
- Television Academy. (n.d.). Donald Trump – Awards & Nominations. Profile documenting two Emmy nominations as an executive producer of The Apprentice, in 2004 and 2005. Retrieved September 9, 2026.