Should a genius pursue IB?

It honestly depends if he is interested in markets or finance or not. IB is definitely still the smart career path but I would never tell an 18 year old Bill Gates to ignore his startup and start churning out models. Other career paths are comp sci and engineering, and both are comparable to banking in terms of pay over the long term. That said the hours are also not as bad (depends on your place in comp sci though). But again, it depends on what your interests are.

IMO, most people who are above average in intelligence typically go into tech/engineering roles. You can make similar money if not, more, in SWE roles at top tech firms and the best part, they work far less hours. Also, SWE/tech roles are always going to be high demand which makes it a stable and safe career path.

It depends what they want from their career. If they are hard working or want to stay following a path they want. I see finance as a brute force path to wealth. You don't need to be smart, just hardworking, to make a name for yourself (personally why I'm pursuing). You should think about where the roles end up in 20 years. In IB, if you want to be really successful, no matter where you go in finance, you will probably always be working really hard.

He should do what he's passionate about. If you have passion in an area, it will drive strong competitive advantages over the competition - willing to grind more, maintaining long-term view, positive attitude, etc.

Also, IB isn't about just being "smart" - you don't have to be a rocket scientist (though some are) - but it's about leadership, emotional intelligence, relationship building, public speaking, creative thinking and many other facets. The aforementioned are increasingly important as you move up beyond analyst and associate. So, being "genius" at say... math or engineering doesn't mean you are "genius" in conveying complex ideas in a simple, understandable way... or having the bravado to lead a pitch for a sellside engagement.

Your friend should play to his strengths and passions.

Probably an 80%+ chance OP is trolling, though. lol

Got a friend going to a top prop quant shop immediately postgrad getting $400k starting sal, 4.0 CS major at HYP, imo the best gig outside of entrepreneurship

It really all depends on their personality. Just because you have a high IQ doesn't mean that being in an engineering or quant role will be suitable for you.

Know from friends plus also my own personal experience.... graduated high school at 16, IQ in the 99% but that sort of work bores me. I am much more interested in the people aspect of things and being able to negotiate and win through logical dominance. So very tough to say without meeting the person and understanding their EQ and how they act in social environments.

If your “friend” was a genius, they’d already know the answer and not need to have a “friend” ask. -they know their talents and interests. -a few searches show the highest paying gigs in those fields. -a clear path exists for the low risk options. IE school/credentials/training etc -follow those risk free paths to high 6 figure/low 7 figure careers with minimal risk/minimal work if you’re a genius.

"while following a relatively risk-free path"

The part above is more important than his intelligence. He should work in IB, consulting, law or a big tech company imo if he has low risk tolerance (and not that these, esp IB, are risk free)

If he is a genius, plz go do something that will make the earth a better place. go be a scientist, a physician, a doctor who creates drugs benefiting human beings literally everytime i see someone who is intelligent go to finance i feel sad. because it is a huge loss to science field. finance is a firely-easy essentially. it just happened to be very competitive because of the pay. anyone can do excel and ppt after training. but not anyone can invent next-generation technology. i deeply wish smart ppl who has potential in scientific research go do something fantastic. be next Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs, or Elon. Science and technology can also make you rich, and so much wealthier than a normal banking job.

If he does what he is passionate about, what he thinks about in his spare time, what he can work obsessively on without issue, that's what he should pursue.

No path is risk free.