What Is 'Jeopardy' Co-Host Ken Jennings' Salary?

As the greatest Jeopardy! contestant of all time, it made perfect sense for Ken Jennings to take over as the show's co-host (along with Mayim Bialik) in the wake of Alex Trebek's death. Ken has been great, and though no one can ever fill Alex's shoes, he and Mayim have done an admirable job. The question we have is what is Ken's salary as co-host?

When he was announced as a guest host, Ken's salary for the role was not disclosed. Around the time of his death, Alex was reportedly making roughly $10 million a year for hosting the show. Given how established he was in the role, It's not surprising. He was an icon. Ken...makes less than that.

We don't have exact numbers but reports say he makes upwards of 30k per episode. Probably a lot more than 30 but we don't exactly know. The truth is he made more as a contestant.

Of course, Ken has already gotten fairly wealthy because of his time as a contestant on Jeopardy! He won more than $2.5 million during his initial run playing on the series and has since earned an additional $2 million on subsequent appearances. That includes the million-dollar prize he won after competing with fellow Jeopardy! legends James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter to determine the best player of all time.

Before he dove into the role and started asking questions, Ken spent some time during his first show as host back in 2021 paying tribute to the man who had made Jeopardy! an institution. "Sharing this stage with Alex Trebek was one of the greatest honors of my life," Ken said. "Not many things in life are perfect, but Alex did this job pretty much perfectly for more than 36 years, and it was even better up close. We were dazzled by his intelligence, charm, and grace."

"Like all Jeopardy! fans, I miss Alex very much and I thank him for everything he did for all of us," he continued. "Let's be totally clear: No one will ever replace the great Alex Trebek. But we can honor him by playing the game he loved."

Ken also keeps a special token in his pocket while he hosts the show in order to remind him of Alex. Aw.

In a post on his Twitter, Ken explained that he had been given some memorabilia from Alex's very first show. "A friend gave me this piece of quiz show history: an audience ticket to Alex's very first Jeopardy! pilot from 1983," he wrote on Twitter. "('ALEX TREBEK! DOOR PRIZES!') I kept it in my pocket while guest-hosting Jeopardy! this week, as a good luck charm." 

Jeopardy airs on weeknights at 7:30 pm On ABC.