Brad Rutter

Bradford Gates Rutter (born January 31, 1978) is an American game show contestant, TV host, producer, and actor.

With over $5.1 million in winnings, he is currently the second-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time, behind Ken Jennings, and still the highest-earning contestant (primarily from special tournament events) on the U.S. syndicated game show Jeopardy! (with over $5 million).

He appeared in the 1990s week of the tournament.

The team won second place at the 1994 Texaco Star National Academic Championship.

Rutter is one of the 19 people to have been named to the National Academic Championship Hall of Fame in its 25-year history.

Rutter is a 1995 graduate of Manheim Township High School in Neffsville, Pennsylvania, where he was on the quiz bowl team.

This streak consisted of his original five-day run in 2000 (after which he retired undefeated) as well as 17 matches in five tournaments (including one as part of a team)—all of which he won.

Rutter finished third in the match—both his first defeat overall and the first time he finished behind a human opponent.

Rutter first appeared on Jeopardy! on October 30, 2000, when the rules stipulated that a contestant who won five consecutive days retired undefeated and was guaranteed a spot in the Tournament of Champions.

Rutter retired as an undefeated five-day champion, with $55,102 in winnings.

He was also awarded a choice of Chevrolet cars; he picked two Chevrolet Camaros.

At the time, Jeopardy! awarded new cars to five-day undefeated champions.

As a five-day champion, Rutter was invited to the 2001 Tournament of Champions, where he defeated other five-day champions and won the $100,000 main prize.

Rutter was invited back for the 2002 Million Dollar Masters Tournament, where he won the $1,000,000 main prize and became the largest overall money winner in Jeopardy! history.

The rules were changed in 2003, before Ken Jennings' run of 74 consecutive days in 2004, which made Jennings the largest overall Jeopardy! money winner.

At the 2005 Manheim Township High School graduation ceremony, he announced the start of a scholarship fund in memory of his late high-school quiz bowl coach, Anne Clouser.

Rutter described himself as a slacker in school and a Johns Hopkins dropout (while there, he studied English).

Before his success on Jeopardy!, Rutter worked at the Lancaster Coconuts record store.

Rutter returned for the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions, winning the tournament and $2,115,000.

After his 2005 tournament win, in which he defeated Jennings and Jerome Vered in the finals, Rutter surpassed Jennings as the highest money-winner ever on American game shows.

Jennings later regained his record by 2008 after appearing on various other game shows.

There is a minor discrepancy between sources as to Rutter's total Jeopardy! winnings stemming from the prize structure of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions.

Players who won in the first round earned $15,000, but Rutter was among nine top winners who received a first round bye.

While some analysts suggest that Rutter's money totals should include $15,000 for a first round 'win' in this tournament, the official jeopardy.com website does not count it (when stating that Rutter's winnings were $3,255,102 after the completion of this tournament).

With this win, Rutter regained the record as the highest money-winner on American game shows, which Jennings had held since 2008.

From February 14–16, 2011, the Jeopardy! IBM Challenge featured IBM's Watson facing off against Rutter and Jennings in a two-game, cumulative-total match aired over three days.

It was the first ever man-versus-machine competition in Jeopardy! ' s history.

The computer program, equipped with a precisely timed mechanical "thumb", won handily, finishing with a $77,147 score, while Jennings took second place with a score of $24,000 over Rutter's $21,600 score.

IBM donated its $1 million purse to two charities.

Jennings and Rutter did likewise with half of their respective winnings of $300,000 and $200,000.

Rutter donated $100,000 to the Lancaster County Community Foundation.

Because this man-versus-machine matchup was an exhibition, Rutter's winnings and loss did not count towards official records.

Rutter participated in the Jeopardy! 2014 Battle of the Decades, pitting top champions from throughout the previous 30 years of Jeopardy!.

Rutter won the March 7, 2014, game against Mike Dupee and Jill Bunzendahl Chimka.

He then appeared in the quarterfinals of the tournament on May 7, 2014, against Dan Pawson and Mark M. Lowenthal and won the game in a lock.

On May 13, 2014, Rutter defeated Leszek Pawlowicz and Tom Cubbage in the semifinals.

On May 16, 2014, he won the tournament and $1,000,000, defeating Ken Jennings and Roger Craig in the finale after the former missed the Final Jeopardy!

clue.

In 2019, Rutter teamed with fellow Jeopardy! champions Larissa Kelly and Dave Madden to win the Jeopardy! All-Star Games.

Until the Greatest of All Time Tournament in 2020, Rutter had never lost a Jeopardy! match against a human opponent (though he twice trailed at the end of the first game of a two-day tournament match before coming back to win).