Jeopardy! - Winnings Records

Winnings Records

Jeopardy!'s record for the all-time longest winnings streak is held by Ken Jennings, who, taking advantage of the newly implemented rule changes explained above, competed on the show from June 2 through November 30, 2004, winning 74 matches before being defeated by Nancy Zerg in his 75th appearance. He amassed $2,520,700 over his 74 wins as well as a $2,000 second-place prize in his 75th appearance, thus earning the record as the highest money-winner ever on American game shows, and his winning streak increased the show's ratings and popularity to the point where it became TV's highest-rated syndicated program. Jennings later went on to compete in the show's Ultimate Tournament of Champions and win the $500,000 second-place prize, and even later, to win half of a $300,000 prize in The IBM Challenge which aired in February 2011, increasing his Jeopardy! earnings total to $3,172,700.

The biggest all-time money winner on Jeopardy! is Brad Rutter, who has won a cumulative total of $3,455,102 on the show. He became an undefeated champion in 2000 and subsequently won an unprecedented three Jeopardy! tournaments: the 2001 Tournament of Champions, the Million Dollar Masters Tournament, and the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. Following his third tournament win, in which he defeated Jennings and Jerome Vered in the finals, Rutter broke Jennings' all-time game show winnings record. Jennings subsequently regained his record by appearing on various other game shows, culminating in an appearance on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on October 10, 2008, but Rutter still retains the record for Jeopardy! winnings.

The all-time record for single-day winnings on Jeopardy! is currently held by Roger Craig. On the episode that aired September 14, 2010, he amassed a score of $47,000 after the game's first two rounds, then wagered and won $30,000 in the Final Jeopardy! round, and in doing so, he broke the previous single-day record of $75,000 which had been held by Jennings.