Ken Jennings Biography – Ken Jennings Wiki
Ken Jennings born Kenneth Wayne Jennings III, is an American game show contestant, computer scientist, and author.
Ken Jennings was born in 1974 just outside Seattle, Washington, but grew up overseas. His family spent fifteen years in Korea and Singapore, where his father worked as an attorney. His only lifeline to American pop culture during those years was TV on the Armed Forces Network, where he watched Jeopardy! religiously after school every afternoon.
He moved back to the States to attend the University of Washington and transferred to Brigham Young University in 1996 after a two-year Mormon mission in Madrid, Spain. At BYU, he double-majored in English and computer science, and graduated in 2000.
While at BYU, Ken captained the university’s successful quiz bowl team, and began writing and editing questions for National Academic Quiz Tournaments, a company that organizes quiz competitions attended by hundreds of colleges and thousands of high schools nationwide. Ken also began to notice a parade of his friends and acquaintances from the world of quiz bowl appearing on game shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, where many were able to pay off their student loans and buy flashy sports cars. With this in mind, Ken began to revive his childhood dream of appearing on Jeopardy!
Ken was working as a software engineer for a Salt Lake City health care staffing company in 2004 when he got the phone call telling him that his contestant audition had been successful and he would appear on Jeopardy! that June. He spent a month making flash cards and cramming on familiar Jeopardy! subjects like U.S. presidents, world capitals, and “potent potables”.
Ken’s Jeopardy! appearance extended far beyond a single game: he took advantage of a recent rule change allowing returning champs to appear on the show indefinitely, and spent the next six months hogging America’s TV screens. Before losing on the November 30 show because he didn’t know enough trivia about H&R Block, Ken won 74 games and $2.52 million, both American game show records.
The streak made Ken Jennings a 2004 TV folk hero, and he appeared as a guest on shows from The Tonight Show and The Late Show with David Letterman to Live with Regis and Kelly and Sesame Street.
Ken hosted “Stump the Master” and “Clued In” for GSN Live and has appeared in ads for FedEx, Microsoft, Allstate, Cingular, IBM, and even his onetime nemesis H&R Block. He speaks about the importance of learning at college campuses and corporate events, and writes about all things trivial for a wide range of print and online publications.
Ken Jennings Age
He was born on May 23, 1974, in Edmonds, Washington, United States as Kenneth Wayne Jennings III.
Ken Jennings Wife
Jennings is married to his wife Mindy Jennings.
Ken Jennings Children
Jennings and his wife Mindy have 2 children, a son, Dylan, who was born in 2002, and a daughter, Caitlin, who was born in 2006.
Ken Jennings Net Worth
Jennings has an estimated net worth of $4 million.
Ken Jennings Books
His books include Brainiac, about the phenomenon of trivia in American culture, Ken Jennings’s Trivia Almanac, the biggest American trivia book ever assembled, Maphead, about his lifelong love of geography, and Because I Said So!, debunking parenting cliches. For children, he writes a series of Junior Genius Guides full of fun projects and amazing facts.
Ken Jennings Height
He stands at a height of 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m).
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