Who is $104,500 richer?
The answer is John Schultz, 29, a computer programmer with the University of Michigan School of Medicine in Ann Arbor, and a five-time champion on the “Jeopardy!” television quiz show.
Schultz, who graduated from U-M with dual degrees in computer science and Latin, had been taking the show's online quizzes since his college days and was finally brought in for an audition. His opponents during his six-game stint, which aired Jan. 8-15, included an architect, an attorney, a biochemist, a high school English teacher, a newspaper editor and a theoretical physicist. His winning strategy: Go big on the Daily Doubles.
The turning point came in game three. Schultz, sporting his U-M colors, wearing a blue and gold tie, had just taken a 6,200-to-5,600-point lead and bet everything he had. The answer was, “This beryl gem symbolized fertility and the Aztecs associated it with Quetzalcoatl.” After a nine-second pause, he correctly responded, “What is emerald?” That doubled his score and he never looked back.
Then it was smooth sailing until the game six Final Jeopardy question about the Dutch East India Co. ended his reign.
Schultz said in a news release that he plans to use the money toward purchasing a house, doing some traveling or helping his wife turn her baking hobby into a business.
