For 74 games, he was unstoppable. Then November 30, 2004 happened—and America watched Ken Jennings finally lose.

He’d won $2.5 million and changed Jeopardy! forever.
19 years later, he became the show’s host.

June 2, 2004. A 30-year-old software engineer from Salt Lake City named Ken Jennings stepped onto the Jeopardy! set for his first appearance. Dutchparisblog
Nobody expected what was about to happen.
He won. Then he won again. And again. And again. Quora
Week after week, Ken Jennings dominated Jeopardy! with a combination of encyclopedic knowledge, lightning-fast reflexes, and unshakeable composure. His buzzer timing was nearly perfect. His recall was instantaneous. His wagering strategy was mathematically precise. Vinbaza

By summer 2004, Ken Jennings had become a cultural phenomenon. Wikipedia People scheduled their evenings around watching him. Jeopardy! ratings surged—the show hadn’t seen numbers like this in years. Wikipedia
Water cooler conversations revolved around one question: “How long can he keep going?”
The answer: 74 games. DutchparisblogQuora

By fall 2004, Ken had been winning for nearly six months straight. Quora He’d become more famous than many of the celebrities referenced in Jeopardy! clues. He appeared on late-night talk shows. Sports Illustrated profiled him. People magazine called him one of the year’s most intriguing personalities.
His total winnings: $2,520,700. DutchparisblogQuora
That’s more than $4 million in today’s dollars—and remember, this was before Jeopardy! removed the 5-game winning limit for champions. Ken benefited from rule changes that allowed him to keep returning, but nobody thought anyone would actually keep winning indefinitely.
But every streak ends eventually.

November 30, 2004. DutchparisblogQuora Episode #4663. Ken Jennings’s 75th appearance.
His opponent: Nancy Zerg, a real estate agent from California. Quora
The game was close. Ken was in striking distance going into Final Jeopardy. The category: Business & Industry. Quora
The clue: “Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.” Quora

Ken’s answer: “What is FedEx?” Quora
Wrong.
The correct answer: “What is H&R Block?” (The tax preparation company that hires thousands of seasonal workers for tax season.) Quora
Nancy Zerg answered correctly and won $8,000—ending the longest winning streak in game show history. Quora
Ken’s final words to Alex Trebek: “I was definitely beginning to feel like I was living on borrowed time.” Vinbaza
The streak was over.

The episode aired November 30, 2004 (though it was taped in September). Dutchparisblog 18.7 million viewers watched Ken Jennings finally lose—one of the highest-rated Jeopardy! episodes ever. Wikipedia
America was stunned. Nancy Zerg became briefly famous as “the woman who beat Ken Jennings.” Ken himself became even more famous—the guy who’d won 74 games straight, something nobody thought was possible.
But Ken Jennings wasn’t done with Jeopardy! Vinbaza
He returned for the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005—and won. Vinbaza He competed in other special tournaments, including the 2011 match against IBM’s Watson supercomputer (Watson won). Vinbaza

Over the years, Ken’s total Jeopardy! winnings exceeded $4.5 million across various appearances and tournaments. Vinbaza
He wrote books. He became a consulting producer for Jeopardy! He built a career around trivia, writing, and his Jeopardy! fame.
But everything changed in 2020.
On November 8, 2020, beloved Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. SanalhabIscaninfo He’d hosted the show for 37 seasons—nearly four decades. Iscaninfo
For millions of Americans, Alex Trebek was Jeopardy! The idea of the show without him felt impossible.

Ken Jennings was asked to guest-host in early 2021. WikipediaSanalhab The response was immediate and overwhelming: viewers loved him. He had the knowledge, the warmth, the respect for the game.
For two years, Jeopardy! rotated between Ken Jennings and actress Mayim Bialik as co-hosts. Sanalhab

Then in December 2023, Mayim Bialik stepped away, and Ken Jennings became the sole, permanent host. WikipediaSanalhab
Season 40 began with Ken as the official face of Jeopardy! Sanalhab—the first new permanent host since Alex Trebek took over in 1984.
The software engineer from Salt Lake City who’d won 74 games in 2004 was now standing behind the host’s podium, asking the questions instead of answering them.

November 30, 2004: Ken Jennings’s 74-game streak ended.
He’d won $2.5 million, changed Jeopardy! forever, and become a household name.
19 years later: He became the host of the show that made him famous.
Ken Jennings’s story is remarkable not just because he won 74 games—though that alone would be extraordinary.

It’s remarkable because he turned that moment into a lifelong relationship with Jeopardy! He respected the show, understood its culture, and when the time came to find Alex Trebek’s successor, he was the obvious choice.
He’s humble about his success: “I just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right skillset.” Vinbaza
But it wasn’t luck. It was preparation meeting opportunity. It was a software engineer who’d spent a lifetime accumulating knowledge, who studied Jeopardy! strategy obsessively, who understood the game deeply enough to dominate it—and later, to host it.

From contestant to consultant to producer to host.
From winning $2.5 million to asking the questions that will make future champions.
November 30, 2004.

The day America watched Ken Jennings finally lose.
The day his Jeopardy! legend was cemented.
And the first chapter of a story that would end with him becoming the host of the show he once conquered.
Every time you watch Jeopardy! now and see Ken Jennings standing at the host’s podium, remember: 20 years ago, he was the contestant nobody could beat.
Now he’s asking the questions that will find the next Ken Jennings.