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That was three years ago. Then he did what most clever New Yorkers with money would do - he started an internet venture called the New York High IQ Society, which he ran from his bedroom in the evenings and weekends. The key to it was instant gratification: his experience with Mensa had inspired him to devise a series of online tests that would tell a person whether they were eligible to join his society within minutes of taking them. There were verbal and spatial puzzles, tests for those whose first language was not English, tests with no time limit and tests against the clock. Some were easy - one asked whether the word 'flounder' could be spelt using letters from the word 'wonderful' - and some would have you pulling your hair out.
The pass rate, which was also the qualification for membership, was set at an IQ score of 126 or above, which, in the arbitrary way of these things, was supposed to place you in the intelligence bracket of the top 5 per cent of the world's population. (This was considerably lower than the IQ target required to gain entry to Mensa, which would place you in the top 2 per cent.)
If you qualified for membership of the NYHIQS, you would be asked if you would like to part with a lifetime fee of $59.95. This would get you a password into the online members' area, a certificate and 10 per cent off any merchandise. For $20 more, you would also get a T-shirt, your certificate would be framed and merchandise would be 15 per cent less. For $500, you get all of the above plus a golf shirt, 25 per cent off other stuff, and your name inscribed on the benefactors' page.
Perhaps you are thinking: this is a scam. What a vanity project. How easy it would be to falsify the results and gratify the egos of the less intelligent on the way to fleecing them of their money. Or perhaps you are thinking: I wish I had thought of this first.