“Jeopardy!” champ Amy Schneider said she’s quitting her day job after her record-breaking run.
The now-former software engineer manager took to social media Tuesday to announce her decision.
“Some of you may have heard, but I quit my day job yesterday!” the 42-year-old wrote on Twitter. “It’s a bit nerve-wracking to pivot from software engineer to... public figure, I guess?”
Schneider, who took the internet by storm with her historic appearance on “Jeopardy!” first made headlines in November 2021, after becoming the first openly transgender contestant to qualify for the show’s Tournament of Champions, an all-star competition that happens annually, featuring the best contestants from the previous year
Her impressive winning streak continued in 2022, when she went on to become the fourth player — and the first woman — to earn more than $1 million in non-tournament play.
She is also the second longest-running contestant in “Jeopardy!” history, and the show’s most successful female player, with 40 consecutive wins.
By the time her reign ended, on Jan. 26, she had scored nearly $1.4 million in winnings, scores of new social media fans, as well an established spot in the pop culture hall of fame.
Now Schneider, who was born in Dayton, Ohio, but is based in Oakland, California, decided to fully embrace her newly gained status as a television superstar.
“But regardless of the outcome I’m so excited to spend the next couple years at least tackling this new challenge!” she wrote, adding that she didn’t expect all the ongoing attention.
“Just want to let you know that I’m aware I’ve been more silent on here than I anticipated,” she continued in a follow-up tweet.
“All my plans were based on the idea that a lot fewer people would want to talk to me once my episodes stopped airing, but that was decidedly not the case,” she added.
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