Scott Riccardi's 'Jeopardy!' run ends at 16 games. Where he ranks among all-time champs
The 16-time winner had his streak stopped during Final Jeopardy on the July 25 show by Jonathan Hugendubler, an adjunct professor and trivia host from Baltimore, Maryland.
Riccardi, an engineer from Somerville and 2021 Rutgers graduate, began his winning streak on July 3 and reached career winnings of $455,000 during his 16-day winning streak. He is tied for 10th for the most consecutive wins and is No. 8 on the regular-season earnings list, according to the "Jeopardy!" website. (See the lists below).
Rutgers graduate Scott Riccardi of Sommerville, NJ appearing on Jeopardy! on the July 8, 2025 show.
Riccardi will be back however for the season's Tournament of Champions competition.
On the Friday, July 25 show, which was the last of Season 41, Riccardi faced Hugendubler and Charlotte Cooper, a graphic designer from San Francisco, California.
Riccardi had the lead heading into Final Jeopardy with $23,600 to Hugendubler at $14,000 and Cooper $7,800.
According to TheJeopardyFan.com, the Final Jeopardy was: "According to one obituary, in 1935 he owned 13 magazines, 8 radio stations, 2 movie companies & $56 million in real estate."
Riccardi answered incorrectly: "Who is Howard Hughes?" Hugendubler and Cooper both had the correct answer: "Who is William Randolph Hearst?"
The final money totals for the game were: Hugendubler with $23,601, Riccardi $18,600 and Cooper $15,600.
Riccardi was by far the winningest contestant on this season of "Jeopardy!" He qualified for the Season 41 Tournament of Champions, which will be in January.
According to the show's Tournament of Champions tracker, Riccardi's streak had him ahead of eight-time champ Laura Faddah on this season's leaderboard. The season began Sept. 9, 2024 and three other contestants have reached the six-game threshold.
Most consecutive wins in 'Jeopardy!' history
According to the "Jeopardy!" website, here are the Top 10 players with the most consecutive victories:
- 74, Ken Jennings in 2004
- 40, Amy Schneider in 2022
- 38, Matt Amodio in 2021
- 32, James Holzhauer in 2019
- 23, Mattea Roach in 2022
- 21, Cris Pannullo in 2022
- 20, Julia Collins in 2014
- 19, Jason Zuffranieri in 2019 and David Madden in 2005
- 16, Scott Riccardi in 2025 and Ryan Long in 2022
'Jeopardy!' Top 10 biggest regular-season winners
According to the "Jeopardy!" website, here are the Top 10 players with the highest winnings in regular-season play:
- $2,520,700, Ken Jennings in 2004
- $2,462,216, James Holzhauer in 2019
- $1,518,601, Matt Amodio in 2021
- $1,382,800, Amy Schneider in 2022
- $748,286, Cris Pannullo in 2022
- $560,983, Mattea Roach in 2022
- $532,496, Jason Zuffranieri in 2019
- $455,000, Scott Riccardi in 2025
- $430,400, David Madden in 2005
- $428,100, Julia Collins in 2014
Staff writer Kyle Morel contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Scott Riccardi's 'Jeopardy!' run ends at 16 games. Where he ranks among all-time champs
