Scary-Smart People Really Do Accomplish a Lot
A study of 320 people whose test scores prior to age 13 placed them in the top 1 out of 10,000 in reasoning ability shows that their achievements by age 38 were truly dazzling, says a team led by Harrison J. Kell of Vanderbilt University. The group achieved 2,749 awards and significant accomplishments, for an average of 8.6 per person. 24 individuals produced 128 creative written works; 52 produced 1,069 fine-arts achievements (one person generated 500 musical productions); 59 produced 392 science and tech publications; 117 developed software; 31 received more than $25 million in grants; one founded 3 companies; and another raised more than $65 million in private equity investment for his company.
Source: Who Rises to the Top? : Early Indicators