This study, at least as Time summarizes, seems to be quite badly formed. 81 valendictorians are far too small of a sample size to determine who goes on to be a

This study, at least as Time summarizes, seems to be quite badly formed. 81 valendictorians are far too small of a sample size to determine who goes on to be a visionary, given that the baseline odds of being a visionary (whatever that even is) are probably less than 1 in 1000. The fact that you can randomly sample thought leaders and see a reasonably high number of valedictorians (Peter Thiel, Ben Bernanke) suggests there's a positive correlation.