No question, this millionaire takes life easy
Published: June 7, 2005
Brad Rutter is proof that the gods keep an eye out for slackers.
The 27-year-old college dropout and former record-store worker beat quiz-show legend Ken Jennings on the “Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions” on May 25, winning $2 million.
Add that to the “Jeopardy!” booty he has scored since he first played the game in 2000, and his total is $3,255,102, making Rutter the biggest TV game-show winner in history, according to the show’s staff.
Not exactly tied to the fast track - “I’m not ambitious, and I don’t need to work for The Man” - Rutter is an amiable guy with a “flypaper memory” that allows him to capture and keep stray facts that he then marshals for money. His easy demeanor and sharp features remind you of Zonker in the comic strip “Doonesbury,” another guy who doesn’t hassle the small stuff - or the big stuff, for that matter.
People enjoy stories about guys like Rutter, the nondescript Quentin Tarantinos of the world who somehow bolt from behind the counters of record shops or video stores and do something amazing, or at least unusual. Their relieved parents no longer have to undertake sheepish explanations about why their kid seems content not to slowly kill himself in some pressure-cooker office.
On a recent afternoon, Rutter is walking through his downtown neighborhood in this city of 56,000 about 60 miles west of Philadelphia, signing autographs and acknowledging fans. The other day, the ceiling in his living room collapsed while Rutter was on a trip to see friends. Most people freak when their residences pancake, but, hey, the landlord knocked a few bucks off the rent, so everything is cool.
The unflappable game boy heads for the Square One Coffeehouse and takes a seat in the back behind a hot cup.
The son of a stockbroker and a homemaker, Rutter was always a decent student with a huge appetite for reading, history being a favorite subject.
“My attention span was not great,” he says. “I was a slacker, and I could coast.” There was a Quiz Bowl team in his high school that competed in knowledge contests with other schools. In his head, Rutter began cataloguing island chains and U.S. first ladies, Shakespeare quotes and Asian history.
In the coffee shop, a guy playfully asks if he can touch Rutter, who laughs good-naturedly. No-pressure attention is fun.
“The phone’s been ringing off the hook,” he says, recounting the buzzing media calls he has gotten. “People are congratulating me, but it’s not fawning. Giving autographs is flattering.”
Rutter says he’s glad not to be as well-known as the game-show legend Jennings. The kind of ceaseless attention he saw Jennings get on Manhattan streets convinced him “It’s better to be rich and not famous.” He adds that as of last week, he hadn’t exactly been inundated with endorsement offers.
Rutter is a surprise. All of America thought Jennings was the man after he accumulated $2.5 million during 74 consecutive days of “Jeopardy!” play.
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