23 People Who Made The Most Money on Jeopardy!

In it to win it!

Jeopardy! is one of America's longest running and most beloved game shows. First airing in 1964, the TV show has enthralled audiences for decades, racking up over 8,000 episodes, as well as 39 Daytime Emmy Awards.

From Cris Pannullo's recent run to fan favorites like James Holzhauer (pictured) who've amassed a fortune over decades of playing, read on to discover the biggest Jeopardy! winners of all time. Figures include winnings from spin-offs and tournament games, where relevant, as well as regular play. All dollar values in US dollars.

23rd: Michael Falk, $315,403

Meteorologist Michael Falk appeared on the show back in 2006. Following a three-day winning streak, he bagged himself a cool $60,403. Not bad at all for a mere three days of work! Falk returned that same year to compete in the Tournament of Champions. A wildcard, he awed audiences when he went on to take home the huge $250,000 prize. He then earned a further $5,000 for competing in the Battle of the Decades. 

Amassing a total of $315,403, Falk may have won big, but not quite enough to quit his day job. He now works as a math teacher in Wisconsin.

22nd: Vijay Balse, $339,400

Vijay Balse, a chemical engineer from India, competed on the show's 26th season in 2009 after auditioning six times over a 16-year period. His persistence paid off and, following a four-day winning streak, he banked an impressive $84,400. His greatest victory came in the Tournament of Champions in 2010, where he took home the $250,000 prize.

Balse also appeared in Battle of the Decades in 2014. All in all, he’s earned himself a cool $339,400 from playing Jeopardy! In an interview, he stated that appearing on the show had changed his life, adding that people now recognize him in the street. 

21st: Mark Dawson, $344,599

Business manager Mark Dawson appeared on the show in 2001, earning himself $52,599, plus a swanky Corvette valued at $42,000 following a five-day winning streak. Hungry for more, he went on to win the Tournament of Champions two years later, banking a further $250,000.

When asked how he spent his sizable $344,599 winnings, Dawson said that he treated himself to a trip to Las Vegas, and his Corvette to some new tires. The rest of the cash was put to sensible use: Dawson paid off the mortgage on his home and put a down-payment on a second property in Savannah, Georgia. 

20th: Russ Schumacher, $345,800

Graduate student Russ Schumacher had been a fan of Jeopardy! since childhood and got the chance to appear on the 20th season back in 2003. Following a four-day winning streak, he netted himself $65,800. He went on to win the Tournament of Champions the following year, increasing his winnings by $250,000. He also appeared in 2005’s Ultimate Tournament of Champions and 2014’s Battle of the Decades.

Schumacher's total Jeopardy! earnings amount to $345,800, and he also found success outside the show, earning himself a PhD in atmospheric sciences. He now teaches at Colorado State University.

19th: Colby Burnett, $408,300

History teacher Colby Burnett first achieved Jeopardy! victory in 2012’s Teachers Tournament, winning $100,000. The 2013 Tournament of Champions winner then banked a further $250,000, and was also a contestant on 2014's Battle of the Decades and 2019’s All-Star Games.

All in all, he’s banked $408,300 from playing Jeopardy! According to J! Archive, Colby continues to teach AP World History at his alma mater, Fenwick High School, Chicago. He generously used his winnings to buy his mother a condo, perhaps as thanks for her working late nights to put him through prep school. 

18th: Dan Pawson, $421,902

Dan Pawson, a Boston legislative aide, had an epic run back in 2007: the nine-game champion took home $171,902. Two years later, he was invited back for the Tournament of Champions, snagging the grand prize of $250,000.

Pawson’s wife, attorney Andrea Saenz, also appeared on the show in 2009. Although she only won a single game, she still banked a cool $34,200.

17th: Buzzy Cohen, $441,603

In 2015, nine-game champion Buzzy Cohen won himself an impressive $166,603. Two years later, he was crowned the victor of the Tournament of Champions, banking another $250,000. He returned in 2019 as a team captain on All-Star Games, winning $25,000 after finishing in third place.

The LA music executive credits his Jeopardy! success to two things: playing Trivial Pursuit and, more intriguingly, watching Rocky films to put him in a winning frame of mind. 

16th: Ben Ingram, $444,134

IT consultant Ben Ingram took the 29th season of Jeopardy by storm, winning $177,534 over the course of eight games in 2012. Two years later, he was the underdog competitor in the Tournament of Champions, yet defied the odds and walked away with the $250,000 prize. He then won a three-way share of $50,000, playing as a member of Team Julia, in 2019’s All-Star Games. All in all, Ingram has amassed $444,134 thanks to his quizzing prowess. 

15th: Austin Rogers, $488,000

Bartender Austin Rogers gripped viewers with his 12-game winning streak in 2017, banking a whopping $413,000. He was invited back that same year to compete in the prestigious Tournament of Champions. Finishing as the second-place runner-up, he boosted his winnings by $50,000 and then won a further $25,000 for playing in the 2019 All-Star Games.

Despite being one of the biggest Jeopardy! winners of all time, Rogers describes himself as "pretty frugal." CNBC reported that he kept his bartending job and his biggest splurge was a $5,600 Honda Civic station wagon. 

14th: Julia Collins, $495,700

Contestant Julia Collins had fantasized about Jeopardy! stardom since grade school, with the dream becoming a reality in 2013 when a staggering 20-game winning streak banked her a cool $429,100. She finished as a runner-up in 2014’s Tournament of Champions, winning a further $50,000. She then won a three-way share of $50,000 while playing as team captain in the All-Star Games in 2019.

The former administrator has since gone on to become a TEDx speaker and has even founded a charity, Girls Like You and Me, which encourages young women to follow their dreams.

13th: Jerome Vered, $499,102

Over the course of 23 years, Californian writer Jerome Vered has amassed a fortune of almost half a million dollars, all thanks to Jeopardy! He first competed in 1991, banking a cool $96,801 following a five-day winning streak. He also appeared in the 1992 Tournament of Champions, winning $7,500, and 2005’s Ultimate Tournament of Champions. The latter was his biggest win ever, with Vered taking home a huge $389,801 prize. His final appearance was in 2014’s Battle of the Decades, where he added a further $5,000 to his total winnings.

A quiz show superfan, Vered also appeared on Comedy Central's Win Ben Stein’s Money, banking a cool $5,000. He later went on to become a writer and researcher for the show.

12th: Jason Zuffranieri, $544,496

A 19-time champion, Jason Zuffranieri won more than half a million dollars playing Jeopardy! back in 2019. He was invited back to play in the recent 2021 Tournament of Champions. Reaching the semi-final stage, he added another $10,000 to his total winnings. All in all, the math teacher from New Mexico has banked $544,496 from the show, despite only making two appearances.

In an interview, Zuffranieri said he planned to invest most of his winnings, though he did intend to splurge on one particular item: a collector's copy of a vinyl record by the band Guided by Voices.

11th: Roger Craig, $556,200

In 2010, Roger Craig, then a NY-based graduate student, won a staggering $231,200 following a six-day winning streak. In his second game, he set the record for the highest amount ever won in a single game, $77,000, holding the title for eight years. Fan-favorite Craig was invited back to the show on three other occasions: 2011’s Tournament of Champions, 2014’s Battle of the Decades, and 2019’s All-Star Games.

Now a data scientist, Craig has amassed a fortune of $556,200 from competing on Jeopardy! The secret to his success? Craig used his data scientist skills to download and study over 200,000 Jeopardy! clues from fan-run sites. 

10th: Mattea Roach, $568,183

Last year, 23-year-old Canadian tutor Mattea Roach won $560,938 across a 23-game winning streak – the fifth-longest streak in the show's history. Roach is also the third-most successful female Jeopardy! star of all time and the most successful Canadian contestant.

Her time on Jeopardy! came to an end in May 2022 after she lost to opponent Danielle Mauer by just $1. However, her impressive score meant that she qualified for the Tournament of Champions and she returned to TV screens last November, finishing in third place and winning an additional $7,200.

9th: Matt Jackson, $613,612

In 2015, paralegal Matt Jackson won $413,612 playing Jeopardy!, following a 13-day winning streak. He then competed in 2015’s Tournament of Champions, where he finished in second place, taking home $100,000. He banked a further $100,000 playing in 2019’s All Star Games.

Jackson prepared for his appearance on the show by reading the book by former winner Ken Jennings, a move that evidently set him up for great success. All in all, Jackson’s total winnings amount to an impressive $613,612.

8th: Larissa Kelly, $661,930

Until December 2021, Larissa Kelly was the most successful female player of all time. The six-time champion took home $223,597 on the show’s 24th season. She was invited to compete in 2009’s Tournament of Champions, where she won $100,000 as runner-up. Kelly also delighted fans by appearing in 2014’s Battle of the Decades and 2019’s All-Star games; for competing in the latter, she won a three-way share of $1 million.

A quiz enthusiast, Kelly played in trivia tournaments throughout high school and college, which helped pave her way to Jeopardy! stardom.

7th: Cris Pannullo, $748,286

Last December, customer success operation manager Cris Pannullo’s epic 21-game winning streak finally came to an end. The New Jersey native banked an incredible $748,286 before he was defeated by professor Andy Tirrel in a gripping round of Final Jeopardy. 

Pannullo now ranks fifth for the highest winnings in regular-season play and sixth for the longest winning streak in Jeopardy! history. Now eligible for the Tournament of Champions, Pannullo will be looking to add to his winnings in the near future...

6th: David Madden, $775,733

Back in 2005, David Madden dominated gameplay, taking home $432,400 following an impressive 19-game winning streak. The following year, he was invited to play in the Tournament of Champions but failed to live up to his former success. After making it to the semi-final stage, he walked away with just $10,000. Madden would later redeem himself in 2019’s All-Star Games, winning his three-way share of $1 million after leading his team to victory.

Since his first Jeopardy! appearance, Madden has gone on to create the International Geography Bee, a worldwide quiz competition that he founded in 2017.

5th: Matt Amodio, $1,519,601

Matt Amodio, a Yale University student, recently became a media sensation thanks to his epic Jeopardy! run. His 38-game winning streak came to an end in October 2022, seeing him bank more than $1.5 million due to his sensational quizzing skills.

Amodio has achieved both fame and fortune from the show. In a recent interview, he stated that his Twitter account has been flooded with fan messages, including several romantic proposals. When asked how he would spend his winnings, he said he planned to save and invest them.

4th: Amy Schneider, $1,632,800

Amy Schneider’s 40-game winning streak came to an end in January 2022 when she was defeated in a nail-biting face-off against Chicago librarian Rhone Talsma. Her epic winning streak is the second-longest in Jeopardy! history, beaten only by current host Ken Jennings, who holds the record with 74 consecutive wins. Schneider also ranks fourth overall for winnings banked during regular gameplay, having raked in close to $1.4 million during her initial run. The California native is the highest-earning female contestant of all time, as well as the first transgender person to qualify for the Tournament of Champions.

Last November, Schneider won the Tournament of Champions, banking an additional $250,000 in prize money.

3rd: James Holzhauer, $2,964,216

Professional gambler James Holzhauer's career gave him the courage to play a gutsy game in his debut appearance – and it paid off. The 32-time champion took home a staggering sum of over $2.4 million from playing the game in 2019. Later that year, he won the Tournament of Champions, banking another $250,000.

Last year, he played in the first ever Jeopardy!: The Greatest of All Time. Despite finishing in second place, he still bagged a huge $250,000. All in all, Holzhauer has amassed a life-changing sum of money from the quiz show: a jaw-dropping $2,964,216.

2nd: Ken Jennings, $4,222,700

Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings has won more consecutive games than any other player. The 74-time champion won more than $2.5 million back in 2004. His record-breaking win has allowed him many lucrative opportunities to come back and compete for even more cash. A year after his big win, he banked another half a million in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions. He then went on to win another $100,000 in 2014's Battle of the Decades, followed by $100,000 in 2019’s All-Star Games. Last year, Jennings competed in Jeopardy!: The Greatest of All Time, receiving the coveted "The Greatest of All Time" title and taking home the $1 million prize.

Over the years, Jennings has competed on several other game shows and is the highest-earning American game show contestant of all time. He may have amassed enough money to enjoy a luxurious retirement but Jennings' quizzing days are far from over. In fact, he now hosts Jeopardy! alongside former Big Bang Theory actor Mayim Bialik. 

1st: Brad Rutter, $4,853,435

When college student Brad Rutter competed on Jeopardy! in 2000, contestants were limited to a five-day run. He took home winnings of $55,102 and has since gone on to amass a staggering fortune of more than $4.8 million from other appearances on the beloved game show. Notable wins include over $2 million in 2009’s Ultimate Tournament of Champions and $1 million in 2014’s Battle of the Decades.

Following his Jeopardy! success, Rutter went on to compete in numerous other game shows. After Ken Jennings, he is the second biggest American game show winner of all time and has gone on to forge a successful career as a TV host, producer, and actor.

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