‘Jeopardy! Masters’: Yogesh Raut Speaks Out After Dramatic Win

Disney/Christopher Willard

Yogesh Raut has spoken out after winning Jeopardy! Masters on Wednesday. The champion sat down with Jeopardy!‘s executive producer, Sarah Whitcomb-Foss, on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast to talk about his win.

Raut went home with $500,000, the title of Masters Champion, the Alex Trebek trophy, and $100,000 donated to the charity of his choice, which was the Equal Justice Initiative. He beat out the 2024 champion Victoria Groce and the 2024 Jeopardy! Wildcard Champions player Juveria Zaheer. He won the game after having a dramatic Double Jeopardy round. The game came down to Final Jeopardy wagers, making it a tight game.

About his win, he said it felt “great.” Raut said that he came into the tournament with the same goal that he always had, which was to “do his best.” “I control the things I can control, I just hope everything else goes my way,” he shared.

According to Raut, there was no bad blood between him and his competitors. “Even though we had to compete against each other, compared to the world at large, we have more in common with each other than we do with the rest of the world in many ways,” he said. “We’re all kindred spirits.”

He added, “During those 19 minutes that you’re up there, you’re fighting against each other, but during the rest of the time, these are the people that are most similar to you. The more the merrier.”

Whitcomb-Foss prompted Raut to talk about the three of them turning to each other after the Daily Doubles and saying, “Well done!”

“There’s no real point in having spite towards each other at that point,” Raut laughed. “You all work so hard and a few milliseconds on the buzzer is what’s going to make the difference. You just hope that the game goes as smoothly as possible and it makes great TV. If it goes to you, great. If it doesn’t, it goes to one of your friends.”

He went on to say that he wouldn’t have been crushed if he went home with $250,000 or $150,00, which is what second and third place receive. “And if any of the other had won, they would’ve deserved it,” Raut told the executive producer.

However, with this win, Raut received another accomplishment. He is now number six on the Leaderboard of Legends in the All-Time Winnings Category. Throughout his time on the game show, Raut has won $1,096,403, and the $500,000 was a big contribution to that. Raut wasn’t even in the top 10 before this win and has now surpassed five champions, including Groce.

“It’s a very exclusive club, and I’m very lucky to be a part of that,” he said.

Raut started off his Jeopardy! run with a three-game winning streak in 2023. He then won the Tournament of Champions in 2024 and now the 2025 Masters. Since the previous year’s Masters champ returns for the next competition, Raut is guaranteed to play in the 2026 tournament. He could become the first two-time Masters champion.

“All of these victories mean more when you know how good the people you are competing against are,” Raut said.

Jeopardy! Masters, Season 3, Streaming Now, Hulu