Once John Carpenter broke the bank in 1999, the floodgates opened up for Millionaires. 5 more contestants cracked Regis’ jackpot and won a million dollars in the span of 7 months. After that, however, a drought of success. The show instituted a growing top prize: $10,000 was added to the million dollars with every episode where the prize went unclaimed. By the time Kevin Olmstead climbed the money ladder to secure the prize in 2001, he won a record-setting $2,180,000.