Software engineering manager Amy Schneider on Friday became the first woman and transgender person to surpass $1 million on “Jeopardy!”
She’s the show’s fourth contestant and first member of the LGBTQ community to reach that amount. Schneider hit the million mark on her 28th game. During the show, she was able to win a little over $42,000.
She now has won a total of $1,019,001, NBC News reports.
“It’s not a sum of money I ever anticipated would be associated with my name,” Schneider, a 42-year-old who lives in Oakland, said in a release, according to The New York Times.
The Times notes that reaching $1 million is no easy feat. Ken Jennings was the first to do so in 2004 after 30 games. One of the new hosts, Jennings went on to a record 74-game run.
In recent years, others have also crossed the $1 million line. James Holzhauern did so in 2019 and Matt Amodio made it only three months ago.
“To be good at ‘Jeopardy!’,” Amy Schneider said, “you just have to live a life where you’re learning stuff all the time.”
Amy Schneider also holds the record for the most games won by a woman and is the first trans woman to make it to the show’s Tournament of Champions.
In response to her winning $1 million, GLAAD’s director of transgender representation, Nick Adams, said, “Amy Schneider’s incredible run on Jeopardy! allows families all over the country to get to know her as someone who is great at word puzzles, has in-depth knowledge on a range of topics, and who also happens to be a transgender woman. Amy is using her history-making appearances and new platform to raise awareness of transgender issues and share a bit of her personal story too.”
Earlier this week, Schneider said she was robbed. She wrote on Twitter that her phone, ID, and credit cards were stolen.
She tweeted, “So first off: I’m fine. But I got robbed yesterday, lost my ID, credit cards, and phone. I then couldn’t really sleep last night, and have been dragging myself around all day trying to replace everything.”
This article originally appeared on Advocate.com, and is shared here as part of an LGBTQ+ community exchange between Q Voice News and Pride Media.
