What is Sam Altman’s IQ?
A résumé, read backward as a score.
Sam Altman’s IQ is unknown: no IQ test result has been published for him, and we found no published SAT score either. Online figures run from 135 to 170, all inferred from his career. What is documented is two years at Stanford and what he built afterward.
Sam Altman’s estimated IQ
- Admitted to Stanford University’s computer science program in 2003, though he left without a degree after two years.
- Co-founded the location-sharing app Loopt after leaving Stanford in 2005; Green Dot Corporation acquired it for $43.4 million in 2012.
- Named president of Y Combinator in 2014, then built OpenAI from a nonprofit research lab into the company behind ChatGPT.
Every figure attached to Altman is inferred backward from these outcomes, not measured. Business and research leadership correlate with intelligence loosely at best, and a record this concentrated in one career says less than a broad-based test would.
- Born
- April 22, 1985, Chicago, Illinois
- Field
- Technology entrepreneurship
- Education
- Stanford University, computer science, 2003–2005 (no degree completed)
- Known for
- Loopt, Y Combinator, OpenAI
- IQ test result
- None published
- SAT score
- None published
What an IQ of 138–150 actually means
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
Average is 100 by construction, and about two-thirds of people fall between 85 and 115. Take the test to place your own score on this scale.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Who Sam Altman is
Sam Altman was born in Chicago in 1985 and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, attending the John Burroughs School. He enrolled at Stanford University in 2003 to study computer science and left in 2005, after two years, to co-found the location-sharing startup Loopt with Nick Sivo.
Loopt was acquired by Green Dot Corporation in 2012 for $43.4 million. Altman became president of the startup accelerator Y Combinator in 2014, succeeding co-founder Paul Graham, and stepped down in 2019 to work full-time on OpenAI, which he had co-founded as a nonprofit research lab in 2015.
On November 17, 2023, OpenAI’s board announced that Altman would leave as CEO, saying he “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board.” On November 29, 2023, OpenAI announced that he was returning as CEO with a new initial board of Bret Taylor (chair), Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo. The post also said Greg Brockman was returning as president.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed November 2026
Sam Altman: the documented record
The estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
- 2003Enrolls at Stanford University to study computer science.
- 2005Leaves Stanford after two years to co-found Loopt.
- 2012Loopt acquired by Green Dot Corporation for $43.4 million.
- 2014Named president of Y Combinator, succeeding Paul Graham.
- 2015Co-founds OpenAI as a nonprofit research lab.
- 2019Steps down as Y Combinator president to work on OpenAI full time.
- Nov 17, 2023OpenAI’s board announces his departure as CEO.
- Nov 29, 2023OpenAI announces his return as CEO with a new initial board.
Where the 170 figure came from
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
Altman’s number gets searched because he runs OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. That attention turns to his own intelligence by reflex, with no more evidence behind it than for any other tech founder on this site.
Compare Elon Musk (140–150), whose only test score on record is a reported SAT total of 1400 from Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography. That is an admissions test, not an IQ test, and Altman has neither on record. Mark Zuckerberg (135–145) is the other close match: an elite university admission, an early exit, and outcomes read backward into a score nobody administered.
Two other AI leaders here have documented academic records. Dario Amodei (145–160) holds a Princeton Ph.D. in biophysics, and Demis Hassabis (145–160) has a Cambridge double first, a UCL Ph.D. and a share of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Altman left Stanford without a degree, so his range, 138–150, rests on what he built rather than on an academic record. That is why it sits lower.
IQ scores in the news about OpenAI’s products are a different matter. A reported score for an AI model describes software, not the people who built it. See what a 151 on the Mensa Norway test means and what it does not and the ChatGPT IQ score.
How we read a number →The board’s statement that Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board,” and that OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015.
Announces his return as CEO, with Bret Taylor as chair and Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo on the board, and Greg Brockman returning as president.
The filing on the Loopt acquisition, which carries the $43.4 million price.
Used for his birth date, his two years at Stanford (2003–2005), his 2014 start as president of Y Combinator, and the fact that the article gives no IQ or SAT figure.
One site states outright that its figure is inferred from career achievement, not a test result.
No school, clinical or standardized test result for Altman appears in any source we found, and Wikipedia’s article gives none.
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Sam Altman, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
Numbers between 135 and 170 circulate on “smartest tech CEO” listicles and IQ-aggregator sites, with 170 the most frequently repeated figure.
We found no record of Sam Altman ever taking a standardized IQ test, and no site publishing a number for him cites one. We also found no published SAT or ACT score. One aggregator states its method plainly: the figure is derived from “Stanford CS admission plus career outcomes,” not a measurement. That is an estimate dressed as a fact.
A thirty-five-point spread, and the same non-existent source underneath every number in it.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
Sam Altman — frequently asked
What is Sam Altman’s IQ?
No IQ test result has been published for Sam Altman, so his IQ is unknown. Numbers between 135 and 170 circulate online, all inferred from his career rather than measured. This site’s 138–150 range is an achievement-based estimate.
What is Sam Altman’s SAT score?
No SAT score has been published for Sam Altman. We found no source that gives an SAT, ACT or other admissions score, so any figure attached to his name online has no named origin. Compare Elon Musk, whose reported 1400 comes from a 2023 biography.
What is Sam Altman’s IQ level compared with other AI leaders?
This site estimates 138–150 for Sam Altman, 145–160 for Dario Amodei and 145–160 for Demis Hassabis. Amodei and Hassabis hold doctorates; Altman left Stanford without a degree. All three ranges rest on records, not tests.
Is the figure of 170 for Sam Altman real?
It has no traceable source. It is the most frequently repeated number on aggregator sites, none of which cite a test, a school record or a named study.
Does ChatGPT’s IQ score tell us Sam Altman’s IQ?
No. A reported IQ score for an AI model describes the software, not the people who built it. See the ChatGPT IQ score and what a 151 on the Mensa Norway test means.
Did Sam Altman graduate from Stanford?
No. He enrolled in 2003 to study computer science and left in 2005, after two years, to found Loopt.
What did Sam Altman do before OpenAI?
He co-founded Loopt (sold to Green Dot in 2012 for $43.4 million) and served as president of Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019.
Why was Sam Altman removed as OpenAI CEO in 2023?
OpenAI’s board said on November 17, 2023 that he “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board.” OpenAI announced his return as CEO on November 29, 2023, under a new initial board.
How does my IQ compare with Sam Altman?
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
Where does this estimate come from?
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other business & tech profiles, starting with Steve Jobs.
- Take the 30-question IQ test — get a measured score and percentile of your own
- Average IQ by country — how the scale behaves across populations
- How IQ Metrics scores its assessment — the method behind our own number
- More on how IQ testing works — reliability, error and what a score can and cannot say
- More business & tech profiles — same field, same method
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Portrait by Jeff Sainlar, CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by the USA International Trade Administration (2015), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Gage Skidmore (2017), CC BY-SA 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above.
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