Brad Rutter Biography
A native of Pennsylvania, Brad Rutter is an American game show contestant, television host, producer, and actor. Brad is currently the 2nd highest-earning American game show contestant of all time behind Ken Jennings with over $5.1 million in winnings.
He is also the highest-earning contestant (primarily from special tournament evens) on the U.S. syndicated game show Jeopardy! earning over $5million. Though Rutter twice trailed at the end of the first game of a two-day tournament match before coming back to win, he had never lost a Jeopardy! match against a human opponent until Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time in 2020.
The wins comprised his original 5-day run in 2000, as well as 17 matches in five tournaments—all of which he (or his team) won. Both Rutter and Ken Jennings (another holder, at various times, of the all-time money record for Jeopardy! and for game shows) were routed in a two-day exhibition match against an IBM computer platform developed specifically to compete on Jeopardy!: Watson in 2011.
Brad finished third in the match—both his first defeat overall and the first time he finished behind a human opponent. Because the man versus machine match was declared an exhibition, none of the records from it count toward official show records.
Brad Rutter Age
American born television personality, Rutter who was born as Bradford Gates Rutter, was born on January 31, 1978, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. Brad is 42 years old as of 2020. He celebrates his birthday on January 31st every year.
Brad Rutter Height
The Jeopardy! show cast, Bradford Rutter, measures a standing height of 1.82 meters tall which is equivalent to 6 inches tall.
Brad Rutter Weight Loss
When Rutter joined Jeopardy for the first time in the year 2000 he was overweight. The Mental Floss reported that Rutter said that he gained a lot of weight leading up to Jeopardy! because of stress—partly from Jeopardy! itself as well as parts from the kind of stress that comes with not having very much money and therefore having to do crazy things like trying out for Jeopardy!.
Rutter lost weight the next time he made an appearance on Jeopardy. Rutter claimed that after losing weight it doesn’t matter.
Brad Rutter Wife
Rutter maintains a low file about his personal life and has not revealed any information about his wife nor if he has any children. This information will be updated as soon as it has been provided.
Brad Rutter Jeopardy Winnings
On October 30, 2000, Brad made his first appearance on Jeopardy!. Back then 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 5-day champion, with $55,102 in winnings (he was also awarded a choice of Chevrolet cars of which he picked two Chevrolet Camaros; at the time, Jeopardy awarded new cars to 5-day undefeated champions).
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. As a 5-day champion, Rutter was invited to the 2001 Tournament of Champions, where he defeated other 5-day champions and won the $100,000 main prize.
He 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. Brad 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).
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 purses 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. Rutter 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. He 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, he 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.
With this win, Rutter regained the record as the highest money-winner on American game shows, which Jennings had held since 2008. In 2019, Rutter teamed with fellow Jeopardy! champions Larissa Kelly and Dave Madden to win the Jeopardy! All-Star Games.
Rutter was team captain and they split the top prize of $1,000,000. Brad competed in the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time event in January 2020 against Jennings and James Holzhauer, and ended up winning $250,000 with a third-place finish to Jennings and Holzhauer.
Brad Rutter Net Worth
The American born television personality, Bradford Rutter, has an estimated net worth of $4 million. He has accumulated most of his fortune from his television personality show which he used to compete and made a record being the only person to win consecutively.
Brad Rutter Health
Brad has not revealed any information about his health. During the 2020’s competition, Rutter lost the competition. It is speculated that he was not feeling well. This information will soon be updated.
Brad Rutter Instagram
Rutter is yet to provide his fans with his official Instagram account. This information will soon be updated.