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Brad Rutter is Jeopardy!’s all-time money leader, with $4,938,436 in official winnings including tournaments. Ken Jennings ranks second at $4,370,700, while James Holzhauer is third at $3,612,216. Those totals reveal an important distinction: the biggest Jeopardy! fortune is not necessarily the result of the longest winning streak or the most dominant regular-season run. Rutter’s ranking is tournament-driven; Jennings owns the 74-game streak record; and Holzhauer holds the single-game scoring record.
The ranking below uses Jeopardy!’s official all-time winnings, including tournament prizes, as reported through August 11, 2026, after the 2026 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament. Amounts are nominal U.S. dollars and should be understood as official Jeopardy! winnings—not necessarily every consolation prize or nonstandard payment a contestant may have received.
The 15 highest official Jeopardy! earners
| Rank | Contestant | Official winnings | Regular-season winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brad Rutter | $4,938,436 | $55,102 |
| 2 | Ken Jennings | $4,370,700 | $2,520,700 |
| 3 | James Holzhauer | $3,612,216 | $2,462,216 |
| 4 | Matt Amodio | $1,818,601 | $1,518,601 |
| 5 | Amy Schneider | $1,682,800 | $1,382,800 |
| 6 | Yogesh Raut | $1,096,403 | $96,403 |
| 7 | Jamie Ding | $882,605 | $882,605 |
| 8 | Mattea Roach | $810,983 | $560,983 |
| 9 | Victoria Groce | $772,801 | $22,801 |
| 10 | David Madden | $763,733 | $430,400 |
| 11 | Cris Pannullo | $748,286 | $748,286 |
| 12 | Larissa Kelly | $655,930 | $222,597 |
| 13 | Roger Craig | $630,200 | $230,200 |
| 14 | Matt Jackson | $611,612 | $411,612 |
| 15 | Scott Riccardi | $533,000 | $455,000 |
Regular-season winnings are shown separately because tournament success changes the picture dramatically. Several contestants near the top earned most of their money after returning for major competitions, while others built their entire totals during their original runs.
1. Brad Rutter — $4,938,436
Brad Rutter is the official all-time Jeopardy! winnings leader, even though only $55,102 of his total came from regular-season games. The explanation is the show’s changing eligibility rules and Rutter’s extraordinary tournament record.
#1 Best Overall
Rutter’s original Jeopardy! appearances came under the former five-game champion limit. He later became one of the most successful tournament competitors in the program’s history, winning the $2 million Ultimate Tournament of Champions and the $1 million Battle of the Decades. Those major prizes account for the overwhelming majority of his official total.
Rutter’s position is therefore a useful warning against treating the all-time money list as a simple list of regular-season champions. He is the answer to “Who has won the most money?” but not to every version of “Who was the most dominant daily champion?”
2. Ken Jennings — $4,370,700
Ken Jennings is Jeopardy!’s regular-season standard-bearer. He won 74 consecutive games, the longest winning streak in the show’s regular-season history, and collected $2,520,700 during regular play.
His official career total rose to $4,370,700 through later tournament appearances, including a $1 million prize in the 2020 Greatest of All Time event. Jennings’ combination of endurance, breadth of knowledge, buzzer timing, and disciplined wagering made his original run one of television’s defining game-show performances.
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Jennings is also the clearest example of why the regular-season and all-time lists should be read together. Rutter leads overall, but Jennings leads the regular-season money table and remains the record holder for consecutive victories.
3. James Holzhauer — $3,612,216
James Holzhauer earned $2,462,216 in regular-season play across 32 victories and added major tournament prizes to reach $3,612,216 overall. His aggressive wagering strategy transformed the visual and mathematical rhythm of the game: large Daily Double bets, high-value clue selection, and a willingness to risk substantial portions of his score.
Holzhauer owns Jeopardy!’s highest single-game score: $131,127. He also won the 2019 Tournament of Champions and the 2023 Jeopardy! Masters. His regular-season total ranks among the very highest, and his per-game scoring produced some of the most spectacular episodes in the show’s history.
In a ranking based on money, Holzhauer is third. In a ranking based on single-game scoring or high-leverage wagering, his case becomes even stronger.
4. Matt Amodio — $1,818,601
Matt Amodio won 38 consecutive regular-season games, the third-longest streak in Jeopardy! history, and accumulated $1,518,601 during that run. Tournament results added $300,000 to bring his official total to $1,818,601.
Amodio’s run was notable for its consistency and for a distinctive response style: he frequently used “What is” or “Who is” regardless of whether the clue called for a person or a thing. The phrasing became part of his on-screen identity, but the more important achievement was sustained control across nearly eight weeks of regular-season play.
5. Amy Schneider — $1,682,800
Amy Schneider won 40 consecutive games, the second-longest regular-season streak ever recorded on the show. Her regular-season winnings totaled $1,382,800, and she added $300,000 by winning the 2022 Tournament of Champions.
Rank #2
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Schneider was the first woman to pass $1 million in regular-season Jeopard! winnings. Her run combined strong clue coverage with calm, efficient gameplay, and her total places her among the most successful regular-season champions even before her tournament prize is included.
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Her 40-game streak trails only Jennings’ 74-game record. It also places her ahead of Amodio in the streak rankings, although Amodio’s tournament earnings put him slightly higher on the all-time money list.
6. Yogesh Raut — $1,096,403
Yogesh Raut’s $1,096,403 total is one of the clearest examples of tournament-driven success. He earned $96,403 during regular-season play, then added $1 million through major tournament victories.
Raut won the 2024 Tournament of Champions and the 2025 Jeopardy! Masters. Those results moved him above the million-dollar mark despite a regular-season total far below the players immediately around him on the all-time list.
His ranking demonstrates that a contestant does not need a long regular-season streak to become one of Jeopardy!’s top official earners. Success against returning champions in elite tournaments can be financially decisive.
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Jamie Ding is the newest member of this top 15. Ding won 31 straight games during a 2026 run and accumulated $882,605 in regular-season winnings, placing fifth on the show’s regular-season winnings leaderboard at the time covered by this ranking.
Unlike several nearby names, Ding had not needed a major tournament prize to reach the all-time top tier. The entire official total listed here came from regular-season play, making the 2026 run one of the strongest recent examples of sustained daily-game dominance.
8. Mattea Roach — $810,983
Mattea Roach won 23 consecutive games and earned $560,983 in regular-season play. A runner-up finish in the 2023 Jeopardy! Masters added $250,000, bringing the official total to $810,983.
Roach is the highest-ranked Canadian contestant on this list. The 23-game streak made Roach one of the most recognizable champions of the post-five-game-limit era, while the Masters result showed that the regular-season run was not an isolated achievement.
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Victoria Groce earned just $22,801 during regular-season play but reached $772,801 overall through two major tournament victories. She won the 2024 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament and the 2024 Jeopardy! Masters.
That $750,000 tournament contribution is the reason Groce ranks ninth. Her profile is almost the mirror image of a long-running daily champion: modest regular-season earnings, followed by elite results in fields made up of experienced Jeopardy! players.
Rank #3
10. David Madden — $763,733
David Madden won 19 regular-season games and collected $430,400 in regular-season winnings. He later shared the 2019 All-Star Games team prize as a member of Team Brad, taking his official total to $763,733.
Madden’s 19-game run places him among the show’s notable returning champions, while the team tournament illustrates another complication in all-time comparisons: not every major prize comes from an individual final. Team events can add substantial money to a player’s official career total.
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Cris Pannullo’s full official total—$748,286—came from regular-season play. He won 21 consecutive games, putting his streak among the longest in Jeopardy! history.
Unlike Rutter, Groce, or Raut, Pannullo did not rely on a later tournament prize to reach the top 15. His ranking reflects the earning power of a long, uninterrupted regular-season run and the large scores possible under the show’s modern champion format.
12. Larissa Kelly — $655,930
Larissa Kelly won six regular-season games and earned $222,597 in regular play. She later finished runner-up in the 2009 Tournament of Champions and shared Team Brad’s prize in the 2019 All-Star Games, bringing her official career winnings to $655,930.
Kelly’s career illustrates how repeated high-level appearances can matter as much as a single long streak. Her regular-season run was comparatively short, but tournament success over multiple years made her one of the show’s top all-time earners.
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Roger Craig earned $230,200 during regular-season play and won the 2011 Tournament of Champions. Later major-tournament appearances, including a third-place finish in the 2026 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament, helped bring his official total to $630,200.
Craig is remembered as both a strong original champion and a durable tournament competitor. His career total is not explained by one regular-season streak alone; it reflects continued success when Jeopardy! brought its strongest former contestants back together.
14. Matt Jackson — $611,612
Matt Jackson won 13 regular-season games and collected $411,612 in regular play. Tournament appearances and a share of the 2019 All-Star Games team winnings lifted his official total to $611,612.
Jackson’s place in the top 15 shows that a contestant does not necessarily need 20 or more consecutive victories to become one of the show’s leading earners. A substantial original run, followed by success in team or invitational competition, can close the gap.
15. Scott Riccardi — $533,000
Scott Riccardi rounds out the list after winning 16 regular-season games in 2025. Those victories produced $455,000, and a $75,000 runner-up prize in the 2026 Tournament of Champions raised the official total to $533,000.
Rank #4
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Riccardi’s entry is especially current: unlike most of the older names on the list, his tournament contribution came immediately after a recent regular-season run. The result is a top-15 total built primarily on modern regular-season winnings, with a significant additional prize from the Tournament of Champions.
What counts as “Jeopardy! winnings”?
This ranking follows the show’s official all-time winnings including tournaments category. It combines regular-season winnings with recorded prizes from events such as the Tournament of Champions, Jeopardy! Masters, the Greatest of All Time event, the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, the Battle of the Decades, the All-Star Games, and the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament.
The official figures are the cleanest basis for a ranking because they use one consistent show-maintained record. They should not be expanded with independently calculated consolation prizes, appearance payments, or other nonstandard awards unless those items are clearly labeled and a different methodology is declared.
Why do some published totals differ?
Jeopardy! contestants can receive consolation awards or participate in events whose prize accounting does not always appear in the same way across public archives. Independent tallies may therefore produce totals higher than the show’s official leaderboard. That does not necessarily mean one list is mathematically wrong; it may be measuring a different set of payments.
For that reason, the dollar figures here are described as official Jeopardy! winnings, not as a contestant’s complete lifetime compensation from every appearance.
Why the richest champion is not automatically the “greatest”
Money is a useful ranking metric, but it measures a mixture of regular-season performance, tournament opportunities, format changes, and prize structures. It is not a complete skill ranking.
- Best by total official winnings: Brad Rutter, whose tournament victories put him first overall.
- Best by consecutive regular-season victories: Ken Jennings, with 74 games.
- Best by single-game scoring: James Holzhauer, with $131,127.
- Second-longest streak: Amy Schneider, with 40 games.
- Third-longest streak: Matt Amodio, with 38 games.
These distinctions matter because the show has changed over time. Rutter’s original five-game eligibility limit restricted his regular-season earning opportunity, while later champions could continue returning as long as they kept winning. Tournament formats also create opportunities for established contestants to add large prizes years after their initial appearances.
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Reading about elite contestants is one way to study their knowledge and wagering styles; testing yourself is another. An official Jeopardy! game, such as a trivia card game or board game, can turn the show’s clue-and-response format into a group activity at home. Availability and editions can vary by retailer and region, so check the current product details before buying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has won the most money on Jeopardy!?
Brad Rutter has the highest official Jeopardy! career winnings: $4,938,436 including tournament prizes, according to the ranking covered through August 11, 2026.
Who has the longest Jeopardy! winning streak?
Ken Jennings holds the regular-season record with 74 consecutive victories. Amy Schneider is second with 40, and Matt Amodio is third with 38.
Is Ken Jennings the highest-earning regular-season Jeopardy! contestant?
Yes. Jennings has $2,520,700 in regular-season winnings. Brad Rutter leads the all-time total because most of his $4,938,436 came from major tournaments.
Do these totals include every prize a Jeopardy! contestant may have received?
Not necessarily. The figures are the show’s official winnings totals, including recorded tournament prizes. Some independent tallies add consolation prizes or other nonstandard payments, so they may be higher.
The Bottom Line
Brad Rutter is Jeopardy!’s official all-time money leader at $4,938,436, but the answer changes with the metric. Ken Jennings owns the 74-game streak record, James Holzhauer owns the $131,127 single-game scoring record, and many of the newest names reached the list through a combination of long regular-season runs and high-level tournament finishes.
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