Who was the smartest person you ever met?
How did you know? What made him or her standout compare to the rest of the pack. I guess what defines "smart" is a whole nother discussion.
How did you know? What made him or her standout compare to the rest of the pack. I guess what defines "smart" is a whole nother discussion.
| +35 | Are we doomed with this debt? | 30 | 8h |
| +6 | Honeymoon Length | 6 | 13h |
| +3 | I am in paradise | 2 | 15h |
Career Resources
WSO Virtual Bootcamps
Career Advancement Opportunities
November 2026 Investment Banking
Overall Employee Satisfaction
November 2026 Investment Banking
Professional Growth Opportunities
November 2026 Investment Banking
Total Avg Compensation
November 2026 Investment Banking
“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”
Leaderboard
| 1 | 99.2 | |
| 2 | 99.0 | |
| 3 | 99.0 | |
| 4 | 99.0 | |
| 5 | 98.9 | |
| 6 | 98.9 | |
| 7 | 98.9 | |
| 8 | 98.9 | |
| 9 | 98.9 | |
| 10 | 98.8 |
“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
.
You work for the President?
.
PHIL SWIFT from FLEX SEAL
![https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SoupyFlusteredCoati-size_restricted.gif][http…]
Not sure how I can really tell who is definitively smarter.
I've spoken with Mark Cuban and met one of the creators of YouTube though. I'm sure they're up there.
Kid I went to high school with. Perfect score on SAT, went to MIT and proceeded to get a 4.0 in mechanical engineering (one of a handful in the program's history from my understanding). Got his MS/PhD in 4 years then started a robotics company. Just absolutely brilliant but was a varsity athlete/all around good dude. Just God given gifted.
Myself . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. jk
During university I attended a lecture by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Penrose</a">Roger Penrose, a mathematical physicist, and I couldn't understand a fucking word he said. Just blown away by the level that he and his contemporaries existed on and thought about on a casual basis. Previously being a typical arrogant university student, I thought I could reason through anything with enough effort, but that lecture humbled me in a big way. I think everyone should have such a humbling experience at some point in their lives to reset their calibration. Especially high-flyers. Should try to surround yourself with people that you aspire to be like.
depends on what you call "smart"
one of the "smartest" guys i know made a million by 25 then quit to chase a new market in the same field and ended up being one of the youngest NFL owners at 31...
smart + vision + risk taker = "smart" in my book
Bill Chen at Susquehanna
Donald J Trump
When did you meet the Donald
I hope it was 1980s DJT
![https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_FLo14GMYos/hqdefault.jpg][https://i.ytimg.com/v…]
because all smart people go around telling people what a big brain he has but uses 5th grade vocab
Probably my great uncle. He knew how to live life and what life means: service to others. He also taught and had an advanced degree from Columbia.
To be smart in this life is less related to money in my opinion as our decisions in this life affect our eternal life. Most people generally agree that there are repercussions for what we do - ie there will be affects in the next life, whatever that is.
Guy from undergrad that transferred to us from Econ to Engineering. Got A in almost every single class, both during undergrad and grad school. He was awarded best (Masters) thesis, too. From there he joined a FAANG company, went back to school for his Ph.D in Machine Learning at CMU, and then joined a ML lab doing cutting edge work.
He was lucky with timing, as this was just around the time Deep Learning started taking off.
Guy was 100% down to earth. Humble dude that loved to help others, and was a pretty good teacher at that. But it was obvious to everyone that he was miles ahead the rest - just a solid combination of intelligence, work ethics, and passion.
Natus rerum qui nobis ut atque eum minus rerum. Sint libero dolor omnis quas. Mollitia corporis porro veniam. Nesciunt laboriosam eos delectus aliquid sed. Earum minus rerum voluptatum delectus. Cumque aliquid dolore sit sunt dicta illo.
Soluta voluptatem vero officiis. Voluptatem voluptate facilis corrupti. Aliquam ut ut accusamus vitae non. Non ut omnis nobis et aperiam quis sit.
Eligendi quis officiis consequatur. Officiis nam accusantium fuga excepturi quis omnis. Nesciunt minima autem aut reprehenderit voluptatibus facilis ducimus. Esse explicabo beatae sed et quisquam molestias. Doloribus minus sit quasi voluptatem nemo. Ipsum iure quis repellendus alias sit aut aut.
Nihil aperiam cumque deleniti voluptate quis ea. Provident at omnis laudantium eaque vitae omnis aut. Commodi laboriosam et ab voluptates saepe.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...