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‘Jeopardy’ Champ Ken Jennings Shuts Down Theory He Purposely Lost Final Game: ‘Why Would I Quit?’
Ken Jennings debunks the conspiracy theory that he intentionally lost his 74-game Jeopardy winning streak in 2004, revealing the truth behind his Final Jeopardy miss.
Ken Jennings is finally putting a decades-old conspiracy theory to rest.
More than 20 years after his legendary 74-game winning streak on Jeopardy, the 50-year-old addressed rumors that he intentionally lost his final game in 2004.
During the Tuesday, April 12 episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Jennings made it clear: He didn’t throw the match.
“Have you ever willingly quit a job where you were making $70,000 an hour?” he joked.
The Jeopardy! phenom rose to fame during his historic run, earning $2.5 million over five months and becoming one of the most recognizable contestants in game show history. But his streak came to an abrupt end after he missed a Final Jeopardy clue about tax company H&R Block.
For years, fans speculated whether the whiz got bored — or chose to walk away at the top.
“Getting bored? No,” Jennings said, dismissing the idea outright.
Instead, he admitted the loss came down to a simple miss. According to People, the final question was “Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work for 4 months of the year.”
“I had always done my own taxes,” he quipped. “I think I could have thought about that one all day, and I would not have figured out that was H&R Block.”
