Ken Jennings facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ken Jennings
Jennings in 2007
Born	Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (1974-05-23) May 23, 1974 (age 51) Edmonds, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater	Brigham Young University (BA, BS)
Occupation	Game show contestant game show host author podcaster
Years active	2004–present
Known for	Holding the record for all-time American game show winnings Having the longest Jeopardy! winning streak Hosting Jeopardy! and Celebrity Jeopardy!
Spouse(s)	Mindy Boam ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	2

Ken Jennings (born May 23, 1974) is a famous American game show host, author, and former contestant. He is most well-known for his amazing time on the quiz show Jeopardy!. Ken first became famous as a contestant, and now he is the host! He was born in Seattle, Washington, but spent his childhood in South Korea and Singapore. Before becoming a TV star, he worked as a computer programmer.

In 2004, Ken tried out for Jeopardy! and won an incredible 74 games in a row! This set a record for the most wins and made him the highest-earning game show contestant in America. After his big win, Ken started writing books about trivia and American culture. He also appeared on other game shows like The Chase. In 2020, he returned to Jeopardy! as a producer. After the sad passing of longtime host Alex Trebek, Ken became a guest host. He later shared hosting duties with actress Mayim Bialik until 2023, when he became the show's only host.

Ken holds many game show records. He has won the most money of any American game show contestant, including over $4.5 million on Jeopardy!. His original 74-game winning streak is the longest ever on the show. He also won the special Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament in 2020.

Early Life and Family

Ken Jennings was born on May 23, 1974, in Edmonds, Washington, near Seattle. His father was a lawyer who moved the family to South Korea when Ken was in first grade. His mother was a teacher for the Department of Defense overseas. Ken grew up watching Jeopardy! on the American Forces Network. He lived in Korea and Singapore for 11 years and graduated from the Seoul Foreign School.

After returning to the United States, Ken went to the University of Washington. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He spent two years as a volunteer missionary in Madrid, Spain. In 1996, he transferred to Brigham Young University (BYU). He played on the school's quizbowl team and graduated in 2000. He earned two degrees, one in English and one in computer science. He met his wife, Mindy, at BYU, and they have two children.

After college, Ken lived in Salt Lake City and worked as a software engineer. After his success on Jeopardy!, Ken and his family moved to Seattle. He now divides his time between being an author and hosting Jeopardy!. Even though Jeopardy! is filmed in Los Angeles, Ken plans to keep Seattle as his main home. He has a small place in Los Angeles for when he tapes the show.

Ken Jennings on Jeopardy!

His Amazing Winning Streak

Before 2003, Jeopardy! contestants could only win five games in a row. But the rules changed for the show's 20th season, allowing champions to keep playing as long as they won. Ken took the Jeopardy! contestant test in 2003. He then had three weeks to get ready for his taping. He practiced a lot, using a couch as a podium and a toy as a buzzer. His wife helped him with flash cards and kept score.

Ken's incredible run began on June 2, 2004. In his very first episode, he almost lost! The Final Jeopardy! question was about a female athlete. Ken answered with just her last name, "Jones." Host Alex Trebek accepted it, saying there weren't many female athletes with that name. If his answer hadn't been accepted, Ken would have lost that first game.

His last game aired on November 30, 2004. His amazing streak ended when he lost his 75th game to a challenger named Nancy Zerg. Ken answered a Final Jeopardy! question incorrectly. The category was Business & Industry. Nancy Zerg answered correctly with "What is H&R Block?" and won the game. Ken finished with $8,799 after his incorrect answer. The audience gasped when his answer was revealed. Ken received $2,000 for second place, bringing his total Jeopardy! winnings from that run to $2,522,700. The audience gave Ken a standing ovation.

Ken answered over 2,700 questions correctly during his run. His streak was paused several times by show breaks and special tournaments. On December 1, 2004, the day after his defeat, Ken appeared on the show again. Host Alex Trebek praised his success and listed all the records he had broken.

Impact and Popularity

Ken's 75 games were broadcast over 182 days. His time on the show brought a lot of media attention and boosted TV ratings. Jeopardy! ratings were 22 percent higher during Ken's run than the year before. For several weeks, Jeopardy! was the highest-rated syndicated TV show. Ken was praised for making the show even more popular.

His fame changed Ken's life overnight. He became a household name. Ken appeared on many TV shows, including The Tonight Show and Sesame Street. Publicists made sure he appeared on both ABC and CBS networks. H&R Block even offered Ken free tax planning for life because of his famous incorrect answer! FedEx also made an advertisement in USA Today congratulating him. Barbara Walters named him one of her "10 Most Fascinating People" of 2004.

Ken donated ten percent of his winnings to his church. His streak also led to some changes behind the scenes at Jeopardy!. More practice time was added for new players to get used to the buzzers. The person who managed the buzzer system was also changed. Ken said this made a difference in the game.

Tournament Appearances

Jennings in 2005

Ken returned to Jeopardy! many times for special tournaments. His first return was for the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005. He was automatically placed in the finals. In the final round, Brad Rutter won, defeating Ken and Jerome Vered. Ken won $500,000 for second place.

In 2011, Ken competed in Jeopardy!'s "IBM Challenge." This was a special event where the computer Watson played against Ken and Brad Rutter. Watson won the competition, receiving $1,000,000 for charity. Ken came in second, winning $300,000. Ken wrote "I for one welcome our new computer overlords" below his Final Jeopardy! answer.

He also played in the 2014 Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades tournament, where he reached the finals with Brad Rutter and Roger Craig. Ken placed second, winning $100,000. In 2019, Ken was a captain in the Jeopardy! All-Star Games. His team finished second, and Ken won $100,000.

In January 2020, Ken competed in the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament against Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer. Ken won the championship and was crowned the "Greatest of All Time." He received a $1,000,000 prize, bringing his total Jeopardy! winnings to $3,522,700.

Becoming the Host

Jennings in 2019

In September 2020, Ken became a consulting producer for Jeopardy!. This job included reading categories on air. Alex Trebek, the longtime host of Jeopardy!, had been battling pancreatic cancer. Trebek taped his final episode on October 29, 2020. Ken was chosen to be the first guest host after Trebek's passing. Trebek's widow even gave Ken a pair of cufflinks that Alex used to wear. Ken's first episodes as guest host aired from January 11 to February 19, 2021.

After a short period with another host, Ken began sharing hosting duties with actress Mayim Bialik. In 2022, it was announced that Ken and Mayim would split hosting the daily syndicated show. Ken also started hosting a new primetime tournament called Jeopardy! Masters in 2023. This show features top Jeopardy! champions competing against each other.

In May 2023, Ken hosted the last 20 episodes of season 39 after Mayim Bialik stepped away. In September of that year, Ken was nominated for an Emmy Award for his hosting. After some Hollywood labor disputes were resolved, Ken became the permanent sole host of Jeopardy! starting with the 40th season. Many staff members believed Ken had become the best host.

Writing Career

After his initial success on Jeopardy!, Ken got a book deal. He left his job as a programmer to focus on writing. His first book, Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs, came out in 2006. It talks about his experiences on Jeopardy! and his research into trivia culture.

He also wrote Ken Jennings' Trivia Almanac: 8,888 Questions in 365 Days, which is a big collection of trivia questions. Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks explores the world of people who love maps and geography. Because I Said So! is a funny look at common sayings and warnings parents tell their kids. Ken has also written five books for his children's series, Junior Genius Guides.

Ken has written trivia questions for the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT). He has also been a moderator at high school quiz bowl tournaments. Ken used to have a weekly trivia column called "Kennections" in Parade magazine. It now appears online in Mental Floss magazine. He also had a column in Mental Floss called "Six Degrees of Ken Jennings," where he connected two different things in six steps, like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game.

For many years, Ken sent out a weekly email newsletter called Trivia Tuesday. It had seven questions, with the last one being very tricky. He stopped the newsletter in 2021 due to his many commitments with Jeopardy! and book tours.

Other TV Appearances

Jennings in 2008

After becoming famous on Jeopardy!, Ken signed with an agency to help him get more TV and commercial deals. In 2005 and 2006, he appeared in commercials for Microsoft's Encarta encyclopedia and Cingular Wireless. He also gave speeches. A board game called Can You Beat Ken? was even made, where players try to win more money than Ken did.

Ken was supposed to host a new game show for Comedy Central, but the project didn't happen. He also taped a pilot for a new version of Pyramid. Ken has been a contestant on many other game shows, including Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and 1 vs. 100 in 2006. He also appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in 2008. He was a frequent "Ask the Expert" on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He also appeared on Millionaire as a contestant in 2014.

In 2019, Ken became one of the "Trivia Experts" on Best Ever Trivia Show, and later on its follow-up, Master Minds. In November 2020, it was announced that Ken would be one of the "chasers" on the ABC show The Chase. He left the show after its second season. In May 2023, he competed on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and won $72,800 for charity.

Outside of game shows, Ken has appeared on the podcast Doug Loves Movies. In 2017, he started co-hosting a podcast called Omnibus with musician John Roderick. They discuss topics they think might be forgotten by history. Ken also narrated the audiobook version of Alex Trebek's autobiography, The Answer Is.... This narration was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Records and Achievements

Ken Jennings is the highest-earning American game show contestant. He has won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,700 on Jeopardy!. He holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy! with 74 wins in a row. He also has the highest average number of correct answers per game in Jeopardy! history.

His total earnings on Jeopardy! include:

• $2,520,700 from his 74 wins.
• $2,000 for second place in his 75th game.
• $500,000 for second place in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions (2005).
• $300,000 for second place in Jeopardy!'s IBM Challenge (2011), where he lost to the Watson computer.
• $100,000 for second place in the Jeopardy! Battle of the Decades (2014).
• $100,000 for second place in the Jeopardy! All-Star Games (2019).
• $1,000,000 for first place in Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time (2020).

Ken's first run on Jeopardy! earned him the record for the highest American game show winnings. This record was later passed by Brad Rutter, but Ken regained it after appearing on other game shows. In 2020, Ken won against Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer in the special Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time series.

Recognition

On March 3, 2020, the Washington State Legislature honored Ken Jennings with Senate Resolution 8704. This resolution congratulated him for all his achievements on game shows.

Filmography

See also

• List of notable Jeopardy! contestants
• Strategies and skills of Jeopardy! champions