How Much Money Did Ken Jennings Make

Ken Jennings

Name:	Ken Jennings
Born:	May 23, 1974
Occupation:	Host, Contestant, Author
Years active:	2004-present
Known for:	His appearances on Jeopardy!

Ken Jennings (also known as The Professor) (born on May 23, 1974) is a game show contestant and host. He is most notable for his record-setting streak of 74 wins on Jeopardy!. He then became the first and longest-running (at 6 weeks) of the guest hosts of the show following the death of Alex Trebek.

The streak [ ]

Before the 20th season premiere in 2003, champions had to retire after winning five games. To celebrate the show's 20th season, the producers changed that rule, allowing champions to continue playing until they were defeated.

On June 2, 2004, Ken Jennings's first episode aired. He won the game and proceeded to win all the remaining games during that season. By the end of Season 20, Jennings had accumulated 38 wins. In the process, he broke the single-day winnings record with a $75,000 score in the final game of Season 20.

Jennings returned to begin Season 21. He proceeded to win 36 more games. After the November 29, 2004 show, he had won 74 games for a total of $2,520,700.

Game No.	Air Date	Final score	Cumulative Winnings
1	June 2, 2004	$37,201	$37,201
2	June 3, 2004	$22,000	$59,201
3	June 4, 2004	$37,000	$96,201
4	June 7, 2004	$30,000	$126,201
5	June 8, 2004	$29,799	$156,000
6	June 9, 2004	$25,000	$181,000
7	June 10, 2004	$50,000	$231,000
8	June 11, 2004	$35,158	$266,158
9	June 14, 2004	$25,000	$291,158
10	June 15, 2004	$50,000	$341,158
11	June 16, 2004	$35,000	$376,158
12	June 17, 2004	$34,000	$410,158
13	June 18, 2004	$30,000	$440,158
14	June 21, 2004	$31,601	$471,759
15	June 22, 2004	$15,200	$486,959
16	June 23, 2004	$26,000	$512,959
17	June 24, 2004	$40,000	$552,959
18	June 25, 2004	$48,801	$601,760
19	June 28, 2004	$21,000	$622,760
20	June 29, 2004	$40,000	$662,760
21	June 30, 2004	$35,000	$697,760
22	July 1, 2004	$40,000	$737,760
23	July 2, 2004	$17,600	$755,360
24	July 5, 2004	$19,600	$774,960
25	July 6, 2004	$14,000	$788,960
26	July 7, 2004	$40,000	$828,960
27	July 8, 2004	$40,000	$868,960
28	July 9, 2004	$52,000	$920,960
29	July 12, 2004	$52,000	$972,960
30	July 13, 2004	$32,000	$1,004,960
31	July 14, 2004	$17,500	$1,022,460
32	July 15, 2004	$28,000	$1,050,460
33	July 16, 2004	$50,000	$1,100,460
34	July 19, 2004	$35,000	$1,135,460
35	July 20, 2004	$29,200	$1,164,460
36	July 21, 2004	$30,000	$1,194,460
37	July 22, 2004	$52,000	$1,246,660
38	July 23, 2004	$75,000	$1,321,660
39	September 6, 2004	$10,001	$1,331,661
40	September 7, 2004	$21,800	$1,353,461
41	September 8, 2004	$27,200	$1,380,461
42	September 9, 2004	$21,800	$1,402,461
43	September 10, 2004	$30,000	$1,432,461
44	September 13, 2004	$45,000	$1,477,461
45	September 14, 2004	$40,000	$1,517,461
46	September 15, 2004	$37,600	$1,555,061
47	September 16, 2004	$30,000	$1,585,061
48	September 17, 2004	$50,000	$1,635,061
49	October 4, 2004	$29,601	$1,664,462
50	October 5, 2004	$35,038	$1,699,700
51	October 6, 2004	$38,400	$1,738,100
52	October 7, 2004	$40,000	$1,778,100
53	October 8, 2004	$30,000	$1,808,100
54	October 11, 2004	$35,000	$1,843,100
55	October 12, 2004	$35,000	$1,878,100
56	October 13, 2004	$28,300	$1,906,400
57	October 14, 2004	$29,900	$1,936,300
58	October 15, 2004	$40,000	$1,976,300
59	October 25, 2004	$30,000	$2,006,300
60	October 26, 2004	$25,000	$2,031,300
61	October 27, 2004	$34,001	$2,065,301
62	October 28, 2004	$30,000	$2,095,301
63	October 29, 2004	$30,000	$2,125,301
64	November 1, 2004	$26,600	$2,151,901
65	November 3, 2004	$45,099	$2,197,000
66	November 4, 2004	$50,000	$2,247,000
67	November 5, 2004	$25,600	$2,272,600
68	November 6, 2004	$33,201	$2,305,801
69	November 8, 2004	$19,200	$2,325,001
70	November 9, 2004	$30,000	$2,355,001
71	November 24, 2004	$55,099	$2,410,100
72	November 25, 2004	$50,000	$2,460,100
73	November 26, 2004	$31,600	$2,491,700
74	November 29, 2004	$29,000	$2,520,700
75	November 30, 2004	$2,000	$2,522,700

The downfall [ ]

During a summer taping, reports from audience members claimed that Jennings had lost during a Season 21 show while trying for his 75th consecutive win.[1] These rumors circulated as the summer and fall of 2004 progressed. But, due to the official forum's no-spoiler policy, the rumor became known as "That Which Must Not Be Mentioned."

The original date for Jennings's loss was November 9, 2004. But, the show's producers tried to mitigate the effects of the spoiler. First, they dubbed out Johnny Gilbert's announcement of the number of games won during games 49 through 73. Second, the show interspersed special weeks into Jennings's run. But fans quickly adjusted, and it became known that "D-Day" would be November 30, 2004.

On November 26, 2004, a Georgia station accidentally aired the Final Jeopardy! round from Jennings's last show. Over the weekend, audio clips of that fateful Final Jeopardy! circulated over the internet.

On November 30, 2004, Ken Jennings led challenger Nancy Zerg by $14,400 to $10,000, but lost in Final Jeopardy!. Ken's other challenger, David Hankins, finished Double Jeopardy! at -$2,800 and received $1,000 in third place cash, but wasn't allowed to compete in Final Jeopardy!. The Final Jeopardy! answer in the category of BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY was the following: "Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only 4 months a year." Zerg correctly questioned, "What is H&R Block" and gained $4,401 to move to $14,401. Jennings, but, mentioned "What is FedEx?" losing $5,601 and finishing in second place at $8,799. With the $2,000 second-place cash added to his total, he left with a total of $2,522,700.

Aftermath [ ]

On the December 1, 2004, episode of Jeopardy!, Jennings appeared at the beginning for a recap of the game show records he had broken or tied during his streak.
Jennings was also the central figure in a game show pilot for Comedy Central, Ken Jennings vs. the Rest of the World. But, that pilot wasn't picked up.
In 2006, Jennings was a member of the mob on 1 vs. 100. He was eliminated when he didn't know what color the number 1 was on a roulette wheel.
That same year, he hosted a Minnesota School Quiz show called Face-Off Minnesota.
Jennings was also the champion on another game show in 2007, Grand Slam. He won the $100,000 grand prize.
He also appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? on October 10, 2008, winning $500,000. Had he gone for the Million Dollar Question, he would've won the million.
Ken appeared in a 2005 commercial for Allstate featuring actor Dennis Haysbert, proving to him how over 1 million drivers switched to Allstate last year with the question "Would a million people switch to Allstate if it was more expensive?", responding with "What is no way?"
He also appeared in a 2005 commercial for Cingular Wireless.
In 2005, University Games released "Can You Beat Ken?"
He won the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions' second-place prize of $500,000, the 2011 IBM challenge second-place prize of $300,000, and the 2014 Battle of the Decades Tournament of Champions second-place prize of $100,000, all three opposite Brad Rutter. His all-time earnings on Jeopardy! total $3,522,700.
On November 14, 2014, and November 17, 2014, Ken Jennings walked away with $100,000, in Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.
Ken appeared as the first contestant on the season two premiere episode of 500 Questions, but didn't add anything to his total.
Ken appeared on GSN's 2019 Best Ever Trivia Show and its successor 2020 Master Minds as one of the regular "Trivia Experts."
He appeared in the 2019 All-Star Games and split the $300,000 second-place prize with teammates Matt Jackson (13-time winner from 2014) and Monica Thieu (2012 College Championship winner). As before, he was beaten by Brad Rutter, who split the $1 million top prize with teammates David Madden (19-time winner from 2005) and Larissa Kelly (6-time winner from 2008).
In January 2020, Ken beat Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer in the primetime special Jeopardy: The Greatest of All Time, winning a million dollars. This put him back into the top spot of most money ever won on a game show, edging out Rutter by a mere $70,000.
On November 24, 2020, it was announced that Jennings would be one of the guest hosts of Jeopardy! following Alex's death; his first episode as guest host aired January 11, 2021, and his last one aired February 9, 2021.
He is co-hosting a revival of The Chase for ABC with Brad Rutter, James Holzhauer, and (as of season 2) Mark Labbett. His nickname is "The Professor."

Cumulative Total [ ]

Out of the totals Jennings won on Jeopardy!, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, 1 vs. 100, and Grand Slam, he has won an overall total of $5,223,414.

Gallery [ ]

Shows hosted [ ]

Face-Off Minnesota
Jeopardy! (2021)

Shows appeared [ ]

Jeopardy! (2004, 2011, 2019, 2020)
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (2008)
1 vs. 100 (2006)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (2014)
Cover Story: Game Show Super Contestants (2018)
Best Ever Trivia Show (2019)
Master Minds (2020-2021)