‘Jeopardy!’: Who Is Guest-Host David Faber?

Jeopardy! fans are getting to know yet another guest host this week — CNBC host David Faber. Faber is the second to last host in this season’s rotating lineup following the passing of Alex Trebek back in December. Here is a breakdown of Faber’s career for those catching up.

Faber is a 57-year-old journalist specializing in financial reporting. He is currently a co-host of CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, along with Carl Quintanilla, Jim Cramer and Morgan Brennan. Faber is the most senior among them, having taken over the position in 2005. He is sometimes referred to as “The Brain” by his co-workers on the air, in part because he has hosted several documentaries on economics outside of CNBC.

Faber also hosts CNBC’s monthly show Business Nation, which has been airing since 2007. His work is highly lauded — in 2005 he won a Peabody Award for hosting The Age of Walmart. He has also written three acclaimed books — The Faber Report in 2002, And Then the Roof Caved In in 2009 and House of Cards: The Origins of the Collapse in 2010.

As far as his personal life, Faber is married to fellow journalist Jenny Harris. They live and work in New York City where Faber was raised. He is originally from the Queens borough.

Faber is likely one of the lesser-known guest hosts for most viewers after a parade of celebrities. However, he is intimately familiar with the game show having competed on Celebrity Jeopardy in 2012. In an interview on Jeopardy!’s YouTube channel, Faber echoed other guest hosts by saying that his main priority was to show the contestants a good time.

“I wanted to establish a rhythm, and I wanted to be good for the contestants,” he said. “I feel like they show up here and this is an awfully important day for them, and I didn’t want to disappoint them.”

Unlike other hosts, Faber did not know Trebek well before his passing, but he said that he is still emulating Trebek as closely as he can this week. He said: “Really, what I have done is study him in part to get ready for this. And so I feel closer to him from having done that and watched just what a master he was. You can’t really fully appreciate it until you actually think about trying to do it. Oh my god, I don’t know how he did it.”

Faber is donating his payment from this guest-hosting stint to The Robin Hood Foundation, a charity dedicated to combatting poverty and homelessness in New York City. He highlighted the organization’s long track record and hoped that the visibility of this week would help them do even more. You can watch Faber on Jeopardy! every night this week. Check your local listings for the correct channel and time.