Goldman Sachs' most bizarre interview question is going viral again

23 minutes ago

4 minute read

Hand holding a plate with a steak on it. Lions in the background.

There are hundreds of questions you can expect in a Goldman Sachs interview. Some, like 'Why Goldman Sachs?' are easy enough to anticipate. Some are much more bizarre.

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An interview question asked by the bank to its quants has recently gone viral on X. The question (which we were first to report on in 2024) reads as follows:

"In a room there are 253 lions and one steak. The steak is poisoned, so that if a Lion eats the steak, it will fall asleep. While asleep, the other lions will treat it the same as they would treat the steak. If another lion eats the poisoned lion, it too will fall asleep. Each lion behaves perfectly rationally. Do any of the lions eat the steak?"

The quant we spoke to who was asked this question said that a lion will eat the steak because there is an odd number of lions overall. A single lion would eat the steak with no repercussions whereas, if there were two lions, neither would eat the steak for fear of being eaten themselves. If there were three lions, one would eat the steak knowing the logic of two lions would apply to the remaining lions after it did so. This logic continues eternally, meaning that a lion will always eat the steak on an odd number, but avoid it on an even.

Several responses came to the same conclusion, but these questions are obtuse by design and encourage interpretation. Several people noted that, while the lions behave perfectly rationally, they may not have perfect information. While the phrasing of the question sometimes notes that the lions are aware of the poison, it did not in this instance. The lions also may not know the total number of lions in the room, thus may not be able to tell whether the total is odd or even.

Robert Yang, a former MIT professor, said "what's actually interesting is to see how many holes someone can poke about the assumptions." Alongside questioning whether the lions have perfect information, Yang questioned the utility of the steak versus the utility of eating a lion and asked whether the lions could communicate with each other.

obvious answer is that no lion eats when there's an even number of lions, and 1 lion eats when odd number but what's actually interesting is to see how many holes someone can poke about the assumptions rational lion for n lion with 1 poisoned food (steak or a sleeping lion) n=1, eat & sleep soundly n=2, no one eats. if you eat, then you are food in n=1 n=3, one eats, then we back to n=2 no one eats ... game theory lion - lions are rational, but is this shared knowledge? - can lions talk to each other? - is this a repeatable game? will there be steak tomorrow? economics lion - what is the utility of the steak? is it juicy? - what is the utility of eating a lion? it's gross, no? bio lion - how long does it take for the lion to fall asleep? is it long enough for it to run home? philosophy lion - what's the essence of a poisonous steak? if a lion takes just a bite, does it fall asleep? quantum lion - who's observing the result and can lion eat the observer instead? corporate lion - does the management want the lion to eat? i can make it happen either way founder lion - the biggest lion will just eat all other lions first and then eat the steak
— Robert Yang (@GuangyuRobert) November 11, 2026

Many responses (presumably from non-quants) questioned what the point is of asking such an absurd question. These types of brainteaser are also common in algorithmic trading firms and are designed to see whether you can make decisions under pressure while explaining your reasoning. The process is usually more important than the result.

Do you think the traditional answer to this question is right or wrong? Let us know in the comments.

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