Brad Rutter Biography

Brad Rutter (born Bradford Gates Rutter) is an eminent American game show contestant, TV host, producer, and actor. Currently, he is the second-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time with $5.1 million in winnings. He is 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).

In 2020, until the Greatest of All Time Tournament, he 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). This streak consisted of his original 5-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. Brad finished third in the match-both his first defeat overall and the first time he finished behind a human opponent.

Brad Rutter Age

He was born on January 31, 1978, thus he is 45 years old as of April 2023. Therefore, he celebrates his birthdate on January 31, every year.

Brad Rutter Height

He stands at a height of 6ft 0 inches (1.83m).

Brad Rutter Family

He was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, by his parents; Greg Rutter (Father) and Pam Greenwald (Mother). And he has a brother namely Greg.

Brad Rutter Wife

He is very private about his personal life and it is not known if he is in any relationship or whether he has been married or engaged to anyone. Moreover, it is not known whether he has kids or not.

Brad Rutter’s Net Worth

As an American game show contestant, he has a net worth of $4 million.

Brad Rutter Salary

His total winnings include tournaments of over $5.1 million. And is currently the second-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time.

Brad Rutter Education

He received his education at Manheim Township High School where he was on the quiz bowl. Later he attended Johns Hopkins University where he studied English. But he is a Johns Hopkins dropout.

Brad Rutter Career

Brad Rutter Jeopardy! winnings

He 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. He retired as an undefeated five-day champion with $55,102 winnings. Also, he was awarded a choice of Chevrolet cars; he picked two Chevrolet Camaros. At that time, Jeopardy! awarded new cars to five-day undefeated champions. In 2003, the rules were changed before Ken Jennings‘ run of 74 consecutive days in 2004, which made Jennings the largest overall Jeopardy! money winner.

As a five-day champion, he was invited to the 2001 Tournament of Champions. There, he defeated other five-day champions and won the $100,000 main prize. For the 2002 Million Dollar Masters Tournament, he was invited back where he won the $1,000,000 main prize and became the largest overall money winner in Jeopardy! history. He then returned for the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions, winning the tournament and $2,115,000. Rutter then surpassed Jennings as the highest money-winner ever on American game shows. Later, Jennings regained his record by 2008 after appearing on various other game shows.

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. Rutter then participated in the Jeopardy! 2014 Battle of the Decades, pitting top champions from throughout the previous 30 years of Jeopardy! He appeared in the 1990s week of the tournament. On March 7, 2014, he won the game against Mike Dupee and Jill Bunzendahl Chimka. That same day, he appeared in the quarterfinals of the tournament against Dan Pawson and Mark M. Lowenthal and won the game in a lock. He went on to defeat Leszek Pawlowicz and Tom Cubbage on May 13, 2014, 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, he teamed with Larissa Kelly and Dave Madden (fellow Jeopardy! champions) to win the Jeopardy! All-Star Games. Rutter was the team captain and they split the top prize of $1,000,000. In January 2020, he competed in the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time against Jennings and James Holzhauer. And ended up winning $250,000 with a third-place finish.

Brad Rutter Other game show Appearances

On December 1, 2006, he appeared on the U.S. game show 1 vs. 100 (as a member of “the Mob”) and again on December 8, 2006. He answered every question correctly and was one of only seven mob members to survive to the next show, as was Annie Duke. However, he would be eliminated on the December 15 episode on a question about Jewish reggae musician Matisyahu. Again he appeared on February 9, 2007, and was eliminated late in a winner-takes-$250,000 “last man standing” competition, but before Ken Jennings was.

In the 2010 World Quizzing Championship, he competed where he finished 140th. Moreover, he was a contestant on the 6th episode of Million Dollar Mind Game (aired on November 27, 2011) where his team won $600,000. In May 2012, he did a pilot episode as a “Chaser” for an American version of the British game show The Chase. In May 2020, he appeared in a revival of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as an in-person lifeline for celebrity contestant Catherine O’Hara. The following year, he began starring as one of the chasers on ABC’s game show The Chase.