yeah lol. the interview is braindump on leetcode and sysdesign. two ways to pass it. do a lot of exercise/ learn the patterns or be an excellent programmer. there is 0 doubt he would have a full HIRE loop
The thing is, being an excellent programmer has nothing to do with leetcode and sysdesign (which is actually a back-end CRUD systems) questionnaire.
it has something to do. an excellent programmer knows how to solve leetcode. maybe he never seen the problem but with he would ask a few questions that would help him get to the solution. and sys design is not a back end crud system questionnaire. it depends on the role but could be much more challenging.
Bellard wouldn't apply and be interviewed like some Stanford grad. He would be head hunted and told he can do whatever he wants and receive a massive amount of compensation.
I'm not sure why you woulf assert he wouldn't pass the interview that seems totally outrageous.