Biography

Appeared in a FedEx print ad following his "Jeopardy!" loss. The ad showed Jennings at his podium in a photoshopped picture, which the screen reading the incorrect "What is FedEx?" Final Jeopardy! response with his losing score $8799. Under the photo was a caption reading "There's only one time FedEx has ever been the wrong answer".

H&R Block has offered to give him free tax preparations for the rest of his life as a result of his Final Jeopardy!.

Won 74 successful games during his run on Jeopardy! (1984).

On November 30th 2004 he was finally dethroned as Jeopardy champ by Nancy Zerg. The Final Jeopardy answer was "Employees at this white collar firm work only four months out of the year." The answer was "H. and R Block", Jennings said "Fed Ex". He finished his reign with a grand total of $2,520,700.

Won "The Greatest of All Time" Jeopardy championship in 2020.

[interviewed by Charles Gibson on Good Morning America (1975) about his stint on Jeopardy! (1984):] I think most people are watching at home, don't realize how important the timing on the buzzer is. ... You know, those are three very smart people every night. And most people know most of the answers. So, the buzzer is going to be what separates the men from the boys. [July 12, 2004]

[on relying on access to the Internet over wide-ranging general knowledge] It worries me a little. When you make a decision you need facts. If those facts are in your brain, they're at your fingertips. If they're all in Google somewhere you may not make the right decision on the spur of the moment.

[on innate ability and his fascination with maps ] There's got to be some DNA component where you're just wired that way. These are the people who can actually follow Ikea instructions because their brains are very good at spatial relationships. For me, it started as a child with one of those little wooden jigsaw maps of the U.S., where's there's crocodiles on Florida and apples on Washington state. That was my very first map.

[on technical devices like GPS] I think it's making us dumber. Sure I have a cell-phone, so I don't have to remember everyone's number anymore, but that really wasn't a core part of my brain. If I start outsourcing all my navigation to a little talking box in my car, I'm sort of screwed. I'm going to lose my car in the parking lot every single time.

[2019, on James Holzhauer]: He feels as close to Watson (jeopardy playing computer) as you can get and still have a pulse.