According to the study, top earners are not among the smartest people

Researchers have found evidence that men with particularly high incomes are not the very smartest.

The study provides another clue.

In order to become particularly rich, you don't necessarily have to be smarter than your fellow human beings.

A recent study even shows that the people who earn the most are not the smartest.

Sociology professor Thijs Bol from the University of Amsterdam and his colleagues observed this in a Swedish data set, as reported by

in its digital edition. 

Study: Top earners are not the smartest people - reference to Elon Musk on Twitter

In Sweden, the top one percent earns an average of two million Swedish crowns, i.e. around 180,000 euros a year.

"The percent with the second-best income receives an average of just under 100,000 euros, but is smarter than the top

earners," says the report on

"And people who earn just over 70,000 euros have the highest intelligence."

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The study looked at the relationship between income and intelligence.

(icon picture)

© IMAGO/Rüdiger Wölk

The sociology professor wrote about the very interesting study on Twitter and insisted on linking to Elon Musk, "after all, the second richest person in the world," according to the report (as of February 16).

Our new article (open access) shows that extremely rich people are not extremely smart.

It plateaus around the 90th percentile, and wage differences at the top do not represent differences in cognitive ability.

(cc @elonmusk)https://t.co/iTP96tiKEb https://t.co/7lc3KqgEzc pic.twitter.com/h0VjwKqpoR

— Thijs Bol (@thijs_bol) February 3, 2023

the data set is based

on data from the military and the tax office and contains information on the salary and cognitive abilities of 59,000 Swedish men who would have completed intelligence tests when they were drafted for military service between the ages of 18 and 19.

Since the intelligence tests took place before the start of working life, the study shows fairly precisely what people would have made of their intelligence.

Shortcoming: The study is only about men.

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Study on the relationship between intelligence and income

According to the report, the results of the evaluation provide another indication - in relation to men - namely that from an annual income of around 60,000 euros, intelligence no longer helps to earn a higher wage.

But that below this limit the men actually made more money the smarter they were.

List of rubrics: © IMAGO/Rüdiger Wölk