Are billionaires just plain smarter? Study says yes

10:30 AM Billionaires, plain, smarter, Study No Comments

Robert Frank , CNBC – 1 day

A growing body of research tells us that success is not so much a function of raw intelligence, but of work, circumstances and time applied to a specific skill.

It's a theme that helps power the American meritocracy and drive the dream that anyone can make it if they just try hard enough – even in the knowledge economy.

But it may not be entirely true.

A new study from Jonathan Wai, research scientist at Duke University, finds a strong correlation between brainpower and success – especially wealth. As the study states: "the top one percent in wealth highly overlaps with the top one percent in brains."

About 45 percent of billionaires are in the top one percent of cognitive ability, the study states. Billionaires were generally smarter than Fortune 500 CEOs, where 38.6 percent were in the top 1 percent of brains. Senators ranked just below that, with 41 percent, along with federal judges 41 percent. Members of the House were less smart, with 21 percent. (The smartest sub group of the American rich and powerful are male Senate Democrats).

Even among billionaires, however, there are wide variations in brainpower. Billionaires who made their fortunes from investments and technology were far more likely to be in the top one percent of brains; 69 percent and 63 percent of them were brain-one-percenters. Billionaires who made their money in fashion and retail, as well as food and beverage, were less brainy: with 25 percent and 23 percent of them in the brain elite, respectively.

So higher brainpower is not just concentrated at the top: it's concentrated among certain segments of the top.

There is one caveat to the theory. The study measures cognitive ability by attendance at 29 selected "elite colleges," which, it says, typically requires high test scores and therefore indicates high intelligence and high IQ. "Elite college attendance indicates a high general ability level," the study says.

But not always. As the study concedes, factors other than test scores and IQ can play a role in admission to elite colleges, like legacy preferences, wealth, sports scholarships and other attributes. And some very smart people don't go to the elite schools for financial or other reasons.


An earlier study from a research scientist finds that "IQ really has no relationship to your wealth."

Still, the Duke study found that fully 88 percent of the Forbes billionaires graduated from college. I guess Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are more exceptions than the rule.

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Wall Street Brawl: Billionaires fling insults on CNBC

12:30 PM Billionaires, Brawl, fling, insults, Street No Comments

Jeff Cox, Bruno j. Navarro and Patrick Rizzo, CNBC

It was the smackdown when billionaires, which Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman more behaved like bar room Bakugan (complete with expletives such as"Stier-!"), and live televised Friday over their differences on a dietary supplement to hear companies around the world.

"Our goal was a light shine on Herbalife", said Pershing Square founder Ackman on fast money"", referring to the company, which he called "a future-oriented Ponzi scheme." Ackman is Herbalife people lurking, most of low income, in a distribution system accused that he calls fraudulent.

He said Friday on CNBC that dietary supplements "earned company the highest level of control." Ackman has announced recently that he took a massive short position against Herbalife, in the substantial bets that the company's stock will fall.

"Frankly, Carl gave me a favor by picking on me," he said on CNBC.

"Ackman is a liar," said Icahn. "He has one of the worst reputation on Wall Street." Icahn accused company by shorting also Ackman to destroy their shares publicly.

"He is like the crybaby in the schoolyard," Icahn said.

On Friday, Icahn released who has briefly criticized Ackman of the much-publicized in Herbalife, a written explanation. "The record straight, I asked never Ackman be my friend," wrote Icahn. "On the contrary, Ackman has me explained more than once that it is a shame, we're not buddies, because then he could have spent with me. But even if we were friends, I would have never invested with him because I think that taking excessive risks. , I believe this point proves HLF."

Ackman, the company manages $12 billion fortune. Carl Icahn, a colleague is activist investor and one of the richest men in America with an estimated fortune of almost 15 billion $.

Traders on the New York Stock Exchange is the air with "oohs" and "Aahs", while arguing that while social networks, lit with financial journalists and market watchers, Twitter book as fast as their fingers could give.

The setting was, during the final half-hour CNBC's "money fast mid-term report" with Scott Wapner, that so much of the story as the two participants found.

Icahn repeatedly reviled Wapner. Icahn insisted, he was a harassed and repeatedly uses the word "Bull" - his feelings about the on air Forum to describe.

"I really kind of there with Ackman did this guy," Icahn said at an early stage.

"Carl, you think, I would like to invest with you?" Ackman numbers later.

"I would not invest with you, if you were the last man on Earth!" The tenor roared Icahn in one Exchange typical for the show.

The Icahn was the core of the dispute with Ackman's fury over its short position on Herbalife. In turn, Ackman has in a statement that 10 years ago, a legal dispute between the two parties reminds the Icahn Ackman, which pay investors led Thursday $4.5 million plus interest.

While every fighter style points during the battle, when the winner was from the performance of Herbalife are declared, scored a clear victory for Icahn.

The shares of the company rose melee, but profits as much as $2.15 in the half-hour cool then.It was almost like it great theater is important.

Twitter lighted with participants, which desperately posting updates."Move over Snooki and the situation... Here comes the CNBC version of "Jerry Springer with limos" (hat tip Sir Arthur!), "investor, what Doug Kass tweeted.

Asked CNBC's own Jim Cramer, host of "fast money", "whatever happened to would be that of wealth!And simply it referred to financial news Web site business Insider as "The greatest moment in financial TV history."

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