'Jeopardy!': Matt Amodio Is Now the 4th-Most Successful Champ Ever

Matt Amodio's Jeopardy! run is earning him not only a spot in the game show's Hall of Fame, but [...]

By Anna Rumer

Matt Amodio's Jeopardy! run is earning him not only a spot in the game show's Hall of Fame, but also a whole lot of money. The Jeopardy! champion's 14-day regular season play total of $440,600 officially makes him the fourth-highest earner in the show's history, the series announced on Twitter after Amodio's win Monday.

He now sits in the Hall of Fame just under Jason Zuffranieri, who earned $532,496 during his regular play time on the show, James Holzhauer, who brought home $2,462,216 during his time, and Ken Jennings, who sits in the number one spot with $2,520,700 in earnings. Amodio responded to the good news on Twitter, calling it "unbelievable" to have kept his win streak going so long up against "28 brilliant, talented people."

"Wow. I don't know which of those numbers is most unbelievable," he wrote. "I think it has to be the 14 days. I've been up against 28 brilliant, talented people, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have made it through the gauntlet to get to this point!" Amodio has now made it through four guest hosts on Jeopardy!, first being crowned champion by Robin Roberts before also playing with LeVar Burton, David Faber and current guest host, sportscaster Joe Buck.

"You've made an awful lot of money here. Any thoughts at all about how you might go about investing it?" guest host David Faber asked Amodio on the show last week. The champ has big plans already, he responded. "I've never actually owned the ground that I stand on before, and real estate can be a very good investment, so I think that might be where I go," Amodio answered.

While Amodio has rubbed some Jeopardy! fans the wrong way with his use of "what's" in his responses, Jeopardy! came out to defend the player's "no-frills approach," calling it "unique but well with guidelines." Amodio also addressed his approach to the game in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, answering, "I don't necessarily want to say too much about that. I guess I just want to say that I hope nobody's offended by it. I do hear some people say that it's disrespectful to the game, and I would counter that if there was a Jeopardy! fan club ranking, I think I would have a strong case to be number one Jeopardy! fan. I live and breathe the show, I love every aspect of it, and so I'm definitely not doing it out of any disrespect or undermining of the show."

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