10 Highly Successful & Famous ADHDer’s

It’s no secret that growing up with ADHD can make life more difficult, many times we also see kids diagnosed with co-morbid conditions like OCD and Dyslexia just making it even tougher, but not impossible. The messages we often receive throughout our lives are that we are not as good as or as-smart-as neurotypicals. We often struggle to learn in the traditional school setting which can lead to many behaviors like talking when not appropriate, moving, getting up out of our seat because it mentally hurts to sit still, and daydreaming. If we are surrounded by people who misunderstand ADHD or don’t have accurate information, we can get very negative messages which turn into negative core beliefs. 

Sometimes we are lucky enough to have a person or people in our life that understands that we’re just as capable, if not more so in some areas than everyone else. If we have someone who believes in us unconditionally and encourages us to reach our full potential, we can live a life of great success and influence. We also need to hear more about the success stories of those people because it tends to not be considered important enough to talk about. This is why I’m focusing today’s blog on 10 of the MANY famous and highly successful individuals with ADHD. I also included a list at the bottom of a few historical figures who had ADHD. 

  1. Michael Phelps, everyone knows him, many look up to him but how many of you knew he had ADHD? Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, at least for now, with 23 gold medals. Phelps was heard in a video for the Child Mind Institutes “Speak Up for Kids” Campaign stating “I had kids who, we were all in the same class, and the teachers treated them differently than they would treat me. I had a teacher tell me that I would never amount to anything and I would never be successful.” He goes on to say that it was very difficult for him but he is proud and thankful for who it made him become. Phelps has been very vocal in the past few years about his mental health and has put a lot of effort into normalizing therapy.  

  2. Simone Biles is a role model for many young girls, she has been very transparent about her struggles growing up as a foster child and being adopted by her grandparents. I saw the positive impact she had on foster children firsthand while working with an agency that provided therapy for those in the CPS system and often in foster homes. She gave kids hope, something they so desperately need but get very little of. Biles has been less vocal about her ADHD, that is until someone leaked medical records for drug testing for the Olympics, showing that she tested positive for methylphenidate, the main ingredient in many commonly prescribed ADHD medications. Biles’ Twitter response was very matter-of-fact and normalizing, “I have ADHD and I have taken medication for it since I was a child. She went on to Tweet later, “Having ADHD, and taking medication for it is nothing to be ashamed of nothing that I’m afraid to let people know.” 

  3. Richard Branson, a famously rich risk-taking mogul who is known around the world. Branson was on a TEDTalk about Dyslexia and confessed to hating school as a child and dropping out at 15. He states that he not only had ADHD but he was Dyslexic and “failed IQ tests.” He is the head of the Virgin Group, which used to include Virgin Airlines. The Virgin Group currently includes Virgin Records and 400+ other companies. He reports that he, “runs the largest group of companies in Europe but I don’t know the difference between Net and Gross.” Which has apparently made for some very interesting board meetings. By the way, according to records, Branson was personally worth $4 billion US dollars in 2018. I’d say that is a good example of the potential many ADHD adults have but just don’t know it.  

  4. Emma Watson is someone who I honestly wish would use her celebrity to talk more about her ADHD publicly but she has been very quiet about it. She has however been very outspoken about her feminist views. According to the website, Alux.com, she has been medicated for ADHD since she was a child. She has also studied at Brown University and Worcester College in Oxford, graduating with a Bachelors in English Literature. She is also a UN Goodwill Ambassador on top of her acting roles and modeling work. 

  5. Will.i.am, if you aren’t sure who I am talking about, you may know him as one of the members of the band Black Eyed Peas. Will.i.am is a music industry mogul and he credits his ADHD as the reason for his success. He reports that the traits of ADHD that most find annoying help him with his creativity in the studios and in meetings requiring creativity and problem-solving. He refers to his songs as “the most ADHD songs ever.” Well, whatever it is, it’s working and his songs are very catchy.  I guess that may be why I love them so much? Who knows. 

  6. Lisa Ling is not only a fellow ADHDer but she grew up not too far from me in Sacramento, so she is also a hometown hero. You may know her from the View or some of the many shows she has hosted and her documentaries. She has been on Oprah, Anderson Cooper, and has worked with National Geographic. She even co-wrote a book with her sister, Laura, about their fight for Laura’s release from being imprisoned in North Korea while shooting a documentary. She was diagnosed following an episode for her show Our America with Lisa Ling that focused on ADHD and discovering that many of the symptoms applied to her. She was 40 when she was finally diagnosed and stated, “My head is kind of spinning. But I feel a little bit of relief because, for so long, I’ve been fighting it and I’ve been so frustrated with this inability to focus.” Ditto girl. Ditto. 

  7. Scott Kelly is an engineer, retired NASA astronaut, and a US Navy Captain, all prestigious honors. I will admit, I had no idea who he was until I was researching for this article. He didn’t let his struggles in school stop him from discovering “workarounds”, like many of us with ADHD do when we have goals and plans, to help him buckle down and pursue his dream of becoming an astronaut. He credits the book The Right Stuff, a book about astronauts, for his determination to make habit changes and focus on his dream job. He went on to participate in a handful of space missions and even spent a year on the International Space Station. 

  8. Bex Taylor-Klaus is a new name in my life. I recently discovered them while watching the new series, Deputy. If you’re not sure why I used “them” when referring to Bex, it’s because Bex is non-binary and their preferred pronouns are they/them/theirs. That’s not the point of this post but if you would like to learn more about this feel free to message me with the information provided at the bottom of this post. Back to the point, Bex was diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school and found many ways to channel that energy through sports and acting. Bex has gone on to star in more than a dozen tv shows, a handful of movies, and has voiced for a video game. You may recognize Bex from House of Lies, Arrow, and now Deputy.  

  9. Daniel Koh is not so much famous but has an impressive resume including two degrees from Harvard, was the chief of staff to the Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and was named one of Forbes “30 under 30” at the age of 26. Koh reports that growing up many of his teachers deemed him a “lost cause.” Koh, however, sees his ADHD as a positive. He told the Boston Globe, “ADHD has caused me to learn practices and habits that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise, and I see it as a strength.” YES!!! 

  10. Salma Hayek who is another successful person with both ADHD and Dyslexia. She did not let her ADHD, Dyslexia, and English being her second language keep her from a successful acting career and receiving a college degree in International Relations. Salma began her acting career in Mexico before moving to LA in 1991. Despite limited English fluency and Dyslexia she quickly learned English and starred in her first American role in the movie Desperado with Antonio Banderas. She has been unstoppable since. 

 

This is just a handful of the highly successful individuals we know and love with ADHD. If you want to know more people with ADHD, a quick Google search will deliver endless results. There are so many more but I’d bore everyone if I went on and on. But I will end with a shortlist of famous historical figures with ADHD:

  • Thomas Edison

  • Mozart 

  • Walt Disney

  • Alexander Graham Bell

  • Leonardo da Vinci

  • Albert Einstein 

  • Pablo Picasso

  • Agatha Christie

  • Babe Ruth

If you’d like to learn more about ADHD, want more information about non-binary/preferred pronouns, or would like to chat about other famous/successful ADHD people send me a message at Colleen@scatteredpotential.com, subscribe to my blog or my newsletter by filling out the form below. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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