They are most likely to be healthy, wealthy and wise, according to the old adage.
But those who are early to bed and early to rise do not always have the upper hand, researchers say.
They have revealed that night owls are generally brighter and wealthier than those able to get up early in the morning.
Experts from the University of Madrid carried out tests on around 1,000 teenagers and found that those who preferred to stay up late demonstrated the kind of intelligence associated with prestigious jobs and higher incomes.
Larks or ‘morning people’, however, often secured better exam results, possibly because lessons are held at the wrong time of day for night owls.
The results showed that evening types scored higher than morning types on inductive reasoning, which has been shown to be a good estimate of general intelligence and a strong indicator of academic performance.
They also had a greater capacity to think conceptually as well as analytically. Such abilities have been linked to innovative thinking, more prestigious occupations and better incomes.