Ken Jennings could win it all on next Tuesday’s game of “Jeopardy! Greatest Of All Time” (the show is off Friday and Monday) but he won’t be able to beat Brad Rutter’s all-time winnings record. Here’s why.
Rutter currently holds the record for most money won on “Jeopardy!” with a collective $4,688,436. Now, keep in mind, that includes special tournaments, where the stakes are much higher and players can win millions at a time. In regular-season play, average winnings are under a hundred thousand — unless you’re James Holzhauer, who holds the record for most single-game winnings with $131,127.
Jennings has the next highest number of all-time earnings counting tournaments, stacking up with about $1.3 million behind Rutter — with his total earnings since 2004 coming to $3,370,700. Behind him is Holzhauer, who has won $2,712,216 total since April of 2019.
It’s important to note that in this special “Greatest of All Time” tournament, the players will not keep their individual-game earnings. Instead, the first of the three men to win three games will take home a set prize of $1,000,000 and no more. The other two will each walk away with $250,000 as a consolation prize.
That means that the most Jennings’ total winnings could possibly reach is $4,370,700, leaving him about $300,000 shy of overtaking Rutter’s record — even if he does win the “GOAT” title.
Regardless, Jennings still holds the title for highest earnings in regular-season play, with $2,520,700 from the 74-game winnings streak he went on in 2004. Behind him is Holzhauer with $2,462,216, who came agonizingly close to beating Jennings’ record this summer with his 32-game winnings streak, only to see it all blown to bits by Emma Boettcher in the final hour. For more info on Rutter’s background, click here.
Tune in to Game 4 of “Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time” Tuesday at 8/7c on ABC.