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Ken Jennings

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Ken Jennings
Jennings in 2005
Born
Kenneth Wayne Jennings III

(1974-05-23) 23 May 1974 (age 50)[1]
Edmonds, Washington, U.S.[2]
Alma materBrigham Young University (BA, BS)
Occupations
  • Game show contestant
  • game show host
  • television presenter
  • author
  • podcaster
Years active2004-present
Known for
  • Holding the record for the all-time American game show winnings
  • Having the longest Jeopardy! winning streak
Spouse
Mindy Boam
​
(m. 2016)​
[3]
Children2[4][5]
Websiteken-jennings.com Edit this at Wikidata

Kenneth Wayne Jennings III[6] (born May 23, 1974) is the highest money earning contestant on the American television game show Jeopardy!. He won a total of 74 times, earning $2,522,700. His winning streak lasted from June 2, 2004 through November 30, 2004. He lost after that time to a player named Nancy Zerg, who lost within a day to Katie Fitzgerald. He was brought back to appear in the final three games of the show's Ultimate Tournament of Champions. In the tournament, he lost to Brad Rutter, who became the highest money winner on Jeopardy!.

According to the introduction given at the start of the show, Jennings is a "Software Engineer from Salt Lake City, Utah" His highest one day total was a record $75,000, which was later broken by Roger Craig in 2010. Jennings is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon.[7]

In February 2005, Ken started appearing in Cingular commercials as himself.

In October 2008, Jennings appeared on an episode of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?.[8] He won $500,000, making him the highest winner in game show history once again.

In February 2011, Jennings, along with Rutter, competed in the "IBM Challenge" against an artificial intelligence computer named Watson.[9] Jennings placed second, losing to Watson.[10] He won half of a $300,000 prize; with the other half going to charity.

In the spring of 2014, Jennings and Rutter competed in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades tournament. They faced off in the finals alongside Roger Craig. Rutter won the tournament with the $1,000,000 top prize, reclaiming the game show record from Jennings.

In January 2020, Jennings beat Rutter and James Holzhauer in Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, claiming the $1,000,000 first place prize.[11][12]

During Season 37 of Jeopardy!, Jennings became a consulting producer and records video clues.[13] In January 2021, he became a guest host after the death of longtime host Alex Trebek.[14][15] And during the show's 38th Season, Jennings and Mayim Bialik are co-hosting the show after Mike Richards resigned.[16][17][18] They continued to co-host until Season 40 when Jennings was named the sole permanent host.

References

[change | change source]
  1. ↑ "UPI Almanac for Saturday, May 23, 2020". United Press International. May 23, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2022. ...Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings in 1974 (age 46);
  2. ↑ "Senate Resolution 8704" (PDF). Washington State Legislature. March 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  3. ↑ "About Ken". Ken Jennings official website. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  4. ↑ Jennings, Ken (November 24, 2010). "Bewildering conversations with an eight-year-old". Ken Jennings official website. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022. My son Dylan turned eight on Monday [November 22]
  5. ↑ Jennings, Ken (November 14, 2006). "Brainiac's daughter". Ken Jennings official website. Retrieved July 6, 2022. Caitlin Eliabeth Jennings was born last night...
  6. ↑ Winters, Charlene Renberg (Winter 2005). "Final Jeopardy". BYU Magazine. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University. Retrieved July 2, 2022.[permanent dead link]
  7. ↑ Kennedy, Randy (December 1, 2004). "'Jeopardy!' Whiz Ken Jennings Loses". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  8. ↑ Clarendon, Dan (November 27, 2019). "10 Biggest American Game Show Winners (VIDEO)". TV Insider. Retrieved July 2, 2022. He also competed on Millionaire, 1 vs. 100, Grand Slam, and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
  9. ↑ "PBS NOVA: Smartest Machine on Earth". PBS. February 14, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  10. ↑ "J! Archive - Show #6088, aired 2011-02-16". www.j-archive.com.
  11. ↑ Pederson, Erik (November 18, 2019). "'Jeopardy!'s All-Time Top Money Winners To Face Off In Primetime Tourney: Holzhauer, Jennings & Rutter". Deadline Hollywood.
  12. ↑ Aquilina, Tyler (January 14, 2020). "It's official: Ken Jennings is the greatest Jeopardy! contestant of all time". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  13. ↑ Aquilina, Tyler (September 3, 2020). "Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings joins show as producer". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Jeopardy! Returns to Studio November 30th with Interim Host". Jeopardy!. Sony Pictures Television Studios. November 23, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  15. ↑ Ausiello, Michael (November 23, 2020). "Jeopardy!: Ken Jennings to Succeed the Late Alex Trebek as First 'Guest Host'". TV Line. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  16. ↑ Yasharoff, Hannah (September 16, 2021). "Mayim Bialik, Ken Jennings to fill in as 'Jeopardy!' hosts for rest of 2021 after Mike Richards exit". Yahoo. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  17. ↑ Towers, Andrea (December 8, 2021). "Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik to continue hosting Jeopardy into 2022". Deadline Hollywood.
  18. ↑ Jordan Moreau (September 16, 2021). "Mayim Bialik, Ken Jennings to Host Jeopardy Through 2021 After Mike Richards' Exit". Variety. Retrieved July 3, 2022.

Other websites

[change | change source]
Media offices
Preceded by
Mike Richards 		Host of Jeopardy!
(syndicated; rotating with Mayim Bialik)
November 8, 2021-present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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