The boy who loves Fortnite has a higher IQ than Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein

He’s a local schoolboy who likes to play Fortnite with his mates – but scored higher than Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking on his IQ test. Julien Deleau-Lees was just ten years old when he scored 162 – the highest given under 18 on the intelligence test.

He’s now one of Mensa’s youngest members – but still makes time to play computer games with his friends. Remarkably, he has a higher IQ than Einstein and Hawking, whose scores were both around 160.

Julien, a Year 7 pupil at King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon, is now vowing to follow in the footsteps of his hero, the late Stephen Hawking. The 12-year-old said: “I think I would like to do astrophysics and study space and physics.

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“I like quantum physics. Black holes are interesting. I have always been inspired by Stephen Hawking. I found his theories fascinating and would like to explore his ideas further to improve our understanding of the universe.”

Julien traveled to Birmingham to take the Mensa test two years ago – and says it was “quite easy”. He said: “I wanted to take the test when I was eight. I was curious what score I would get, but I waited a few more years.

“The test was quite easy for me. I look for things that are similar across rows and columns – and consider the possibilities. If you see a similarity, there is quite often the solution.”

Despite his terrifying power, he still likes to let loose playing computer games with his friends online. He added: “I love Minecraft and Fortnite.

“I’ve always really liked maths and physics, especially space, but I also really like games. It’s not intellectual, I just find them fun and entertaining, especially when you’re playing with your friends.”

The young man even built his own super computer after his existing one didn’t have the memory power he wanted for his games. Mum Jane, 58, a real estate agent, realized her son was special because of his remarkable ability to solve big maths problems in his head.

She said: “He was bright from a young age. He was always very mature in his thinking. He has always loved math since he was really young. Whatever he had to do with mathematics, he did it recreationally.

“He would want to do challenges and take them home. He has this ridiculous ability to do these big numbers. I don’t know how he stores them all, but he can figure it out in his head.

“It has always been noted that he always gets a response very quickly. He built a large gaming computer. He wanted one that was more powerful than a laptop type.

“He took all the components, made an Amazon shopping list and built them all. He connected everything and everything is lit.

“I can’t help him at all. He really gets on with it. I think he likes the challenge.

“But his greatest love is science. His favorite thing is probably space. He has a huge amount of knowledge about what’s going on in space.

“He can easily explain black holes and stars. He can always go much deeper than that.

“He is interested and asks questions. He would say he wants to be a quantum physicist and an astrophysicist.

“He’s just really into it, he loves it and he’s fascinated by it. He has a real ability to understand. It’s like a sponge, it just understands very easily.

“Both of his grandfathers are surgeons. His father is some kind of chemistry and math wizard. That’s just the way he is. He likes challenges and being tested. He likes tests and quizzes at school. I think he finds it so competitive.”

Julien is now studying his GCSEs a year earlier than his classmates. Jane added: “I’m really proud of him. I am more proud of him because he is such a nice kid.

“His assignments are always the best grades. He has his homework days, he has a schedule. He does that.”

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