Where Is the First ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ Winner John Carpenter Now?

In November 1999, John Carpenter made history as the first person to win Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but the prize proved to be far less life-changing than many had anticipated.

At the time, Carpenter was a 31-year-old Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee and had been married to his wife, Deborah “Debbie” Carpenter, for 15 months. The Hamden, Conn. resident famously secured the $1 million prize after correctly answering 15 questions and using his final lifeline to call his father — not for help, but to announce he was about to win.

But 25 years later, the money hasn’t changed Carpenter’s lifestyle drastically. It served as a cushion to help him welcome a son in 2004, buy a new car and make some donations to charity — but he still considers himself a cautious spender.

In a 2009 interview with New Haven Register, Carpenter described himself as frugal, admitting, “Nothing has changed.”

“I still never have cash when I go out with my friends. And they always make fun of me for it,” he said.

However, Carpenter has said that he’s proud to have been part of the show’s legacy, sharing in a July 2024 interview with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire that the show is a “cultural touchstone.” “I like to think that I have a little bit to do with that,” he said.

So where is John Carpenter today? Here’s everything to know about his life 25 years after becoming Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’s first jackpot winner.

Who is John Carpenter?

Carpenter was a 31-year-old IRS employee when he appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in November 1999 and became the first contestant to win the $1 million jackpot prize. At the time, he was living in Hamden with his wife, Debbie.

In a 1999 interview with PEOPLE, Carpenter’s neighbors and friends described him as “down-to-earth,” “reserved” and “funny.”

Meanwhile, show host Regis Philbin described Carpenter as having “ice water in his veins” and being “a little on the cocky side.”

Carpenter wasn’t surprised he won, but he told PEOPLE that he “didn’t want to seem overly cocky.”

“From the first show, I knew just about all the answers,” the game show winner said. “I sort of expected to win the million dollars.”

However, the sudden fame following his win was a stark contrast to the ordinary life Carpenter had been living. Reflecting on his appearance on Saturday Night Live a day after the episode aired — where he shared the stage with guest host Jennifer Aniston — Carpenter told PEOPLE that “it was surreal.”

“I come from total obscurity. This is not my life,” he said.

How did John Carpenter win $1M?

Before appearing on the episode that would lead to his legendary win, Carpenter had answered the first two trivia questions correctly on the previous evening’s episode. When he made it to the next round, he answered 13 questions correctly and became the first-ever winner of the franchise.

In the 1999 PEOPLE cover story, Carpenter was described as having “ripped through his 15 questions with cold-blooded cyborg efficiency to win the first million-dollar jackpot.”

Carpenter didn’t use any of his lifelines while answering the questions (he could have asked the audience or narrowed it down to two choices). That is, until the final round, when he was asked to name which U.S. president had been on the television show Laugh-In.

The IRS employee called his father and famously said, “I don’t really need your help, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to win the million dollars.”

He continued, “Because the U.S. president [who] appeared on Laugh-In is Richard Nixon. That’s my final answer.”

Reflecting on his iconic line, Carpenter told the Washington Post in April 2020 that it was a “spur of the moment thing.”

“I’m a little bit of a smart—,” he said. “I look back on it and — well, thank God I was right.”

How did John Carpenter intend to spend the $1M?

Following his win, Carpenter told PEOPLE that he didn’t have any luxurious purchases in mind and just wanted to be “comfortable the rest of my life.”

However, he and his wife did reveal some plans for spending the cash prize.

Debbie shared that their wish list included “that J. Crew leather jacket for Christmas” and a trip to Paris. Meanwhile, Carpenter joked that he would donate his money “to the Red Sox to help them sign another power pitcher to complement Pedro Martinez.”

There were also some plans for the money beyond material purchases.

“We’ve been talking about a family, having nothing to do with money,” Debbie said. “Of course money makes it easier and moves things along.”

Carpenter teased the idea that his newfound “cushion” could also help him “start over fresh.” He expressed enthusiasm about his job with the IRS, but was open to the idea of “expanding” himself and trying “something new.”

Where is John Carpenter now?

A decade after his big win, Carpenter shared with New Haven Register some of the ways he spent the money. He made generous donations to charity, purchased a BMW and, after the birth of his son in 2004, moved to a larger home in a different neighborhood in their town. Two years later, the family relocated again to a new suburb.

Despite the substantial prize, Carpenter’s lifestyle at the time remained modest. He still worked as a group manager for an IRS collection group in Connecticut and frequently addressed why he hasn’t retired, explaining to New Haven Register that the winnings weren’t enough to quit working entirely.

“It’s not like [major league] ball player money,” Carpenter said. “It’s a lot of money. It makes things more comfortable than they would be. But it’s not like what it used to mean when you said $1 million.”

Carpenter told the outlet that he and his wife rarely dined out, and when they did, it was usually at casual spots like Chili’s over pricier restaurants, saying, “That’s just not my lifestyle.”

Throughout the interview, Carpenter stressed that he preferred not to discuss money and admitted feeling irritated when people recognized him and referred to him as “the millionaire.”

“I wasn’t a millionaire a second after I won the money,” he said. After paying $400,000 in federal, state and local taxes, Carpenter was left with $600,000.

Winning the show didn’t end his passion for trivia, however. According to The Washington Post, Carpenter is an active member of a trivia team at a local brewery, where one teammate spent months without realizing he was the “Millionaire” guy.

But although he was the talk of the town during that time, according to The Washington Post, he has returned to a life of normalcy — and still works for the IRS.

“It’s a hell of a lot of money, but I live in New England,” he said. “If I lived somewhere else, maybe it would be different.”