Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, author, and former game show contestant. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including 4,522,700ontheU.S.gameshowJeopardy!.Since2021,JenningsandMayimBialikhavealternatedashostsofthatshow.In2023,JenningsreceivedanominationforthePrimetimeEmmyAwardforOutstandingHostforaGameShowforhostingtheshow.JenningsholdstherecordforthelongestwinningstreakonJeopardy!with74consecutivewins.HealsoholdstherecordforthehighestaveragecorrectresponsespergameinJeopardy!history(forthosecontestantswithatleast300correctresponses)with35.9duringhisoriginalrun(noothercontestanthasexceeded30)and33.1overall,includingtournamentsandspecialevents.In2004,Jenningswon74consecutiveJeopardy!gamesbeforehewasdefeatedbychallengerNancyZerginhis75thappearance.Jennings′totalearningsonJeopardy!are4,522,700, consisting of: 2,520,700overhis74wins;a2,000 second-place prize in his 75th appearance; a 500,000second−placeprizeintheJeopardy!UltimateTournamentofChampions(2005);a300,000 second-place prize in Jeopardy!s IBM Challenge (2011), when he lost to the Watson computer but became the first person to beat third-place finisher Brad Rutter; a 100,000second−placeprizeintheJeopardy!BattleoftheDecades(2014);a100,000 second-place prize (his share of his team's 300,000prize)intheJeopardy!All−StarGames(2019);anda1,000,000 first-place prize in Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time (2020).
During his first run of Jeopardy! appearances, Jennings earned the record for the highest American game show winnings. His total was surpassed by Rutter, who defeated Jennings in the finals of the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, adding $2 million to Rutter's existing Jeopardy! winnings.