Adam Klein

Adam Scott Klein^[2] is the Sole Survivor of Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X.

A long-time superfan of the show, Adam began the game on the Millennials tribe, where he found himself in the minority after the first Tribal Council. He ended up in a swing vote position after the tribe switch, and eventually flipped on the Millennials majority, voting out Figgy Figueroa. After the merge, he joined the majority and eventually became a member of David's Vinaka Alliance. Despite being on the wrong side of the numbers following a rock draw tiebreaker in which he took part, as well as finding and misplaying two Hidden Immunity Idols, he navigated to the final four as an active member of his alliance, and played a crucial role in the elimination of David Wright at that point. At the Final Tribal Council, his strong strategic and social game-play won him the respect of the jury and resulted in a unanimous victory.

Profile

Retrieved from CBS.com

Name: Adam Klein
Age: 25
Current residence: San Francisco, CA
Occupation: Homeless shelter manager
Tribe designation: Vanua (Millennials)
Three words to describe you: Intelligent, confident, and personable.
Hobbies: Board games, poker, browsing the Survivor Subreddit, and travel.
Pet peeves: Bullies, long lines, and smokers.
What does it mean to be a Millennial? Millennials believe that, in this moment, anything is possible. If you have dreams, go after them. If you want to change the world, change it. I don't believe you have to "pay your dues" making copies and fetching coffee before you can be successful—or before you can make a difference. Don't just work harder, work smarter, and make your goals a reality! My dream is to win Survivor and I'm going to make it happen!
Personal claim to fame: As a volunteer, I chaired a Relay For Life event that raised over $135,000 for cancer research and grew in size from about 10 youth participants to over 500. If any of that money helps save my mom's life, then it is, by far, my most important accomplishment.
Inspiration in life: My mom. She is surviving lung cancer and has survivorship in her blood [because] her mom survived Auschwitz. She is incredibly physically fit and otherwise healthy. She can tear up the dance floor—that's where I get my moves!—and she's my best friend and supporter.
If you could have three things on the island, what would they be and why? A picture of my family to keep myself grounded and focused, a fake Hidden Immunity Idol because the threat can be just as powerful as the real thing, and a razor because I hate mustaches with a fiery passion.
Survivor contestant you're most like: Spencer Bledsoe (Cagayan, Cambodia). We are both wise beyond our years, can easily play up to the egos of older and stronger players, are strategic thinkers, and are widely underestimated in the game. I also relate to the never-say-die nature and social finesse of Hayden Moss (Blood vs. Water).
Reason for being on Survivor: When I set a goal in life, I achieve it. As an ultimate super-duper fan, winning Survivor is an unrealized goal that I simply must accomplish. I have dreamed of winning Survivor since I was 9 years old, even going so far as to play Survivor online when I was in middle school. The money is secondary, but not unimportant because it would allow me to continue my passion for social justice.
Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor? No one is going to fight as hard as I will for that title. I may be—and look—young, I may be small, but my fellow competitors won't know what kind of power punch I pack until they are already knocked out. I will use my youthful charm and energy, combined with my strategic nature to win. I come from a long line of real-life survivors, and I am next.^[3]

Survivor

Adam began the game on the Millennials tribe, Vanua. He seemed to be in a good position as the Triforce alliance prompted the formation of a counter alliance that he was a part of. Despite being in a 6-4 advantage, Michelle Schubert lead the charge to cause three members to flip and join the Triforce in blindsiding Mari Takahashi, leaving Adam and Zeke Smith on the outs. Both of them were upset with Hannah Shapiro after Tribal Council despite her wishing to work with them in the future. Now in a vulnerable position, Adam tried to regroup the remnants of his alliance and found Vanua's Hidden Immunity Idol.

After the tribe switch, he was put on Takali with Millennials Figgy Figueroa and Taylor Stocker and Gen-Xers Ken McNickle and Jessica Lewis. At their only Tribal Council visit, knowing how powerful Figgy and Taylor were, Adam took the opportunity to blindside Figgy. This would cause Taylor to target him for the rest of the game. Unaware of Taylor's grudge against him, Adam confided with Taylor an interest in forming an alliance with him and to target Will Wahl. Taylor used this information to turn the merged tribe against Adam. Despite Adam's paranoia after Will won immunity, his alliance protected him and voted out Michelle and Taylor at the beginning of the merge. After that, the decisions got tougher as sub alliances began jockeying for position. Adam joined David Wright's alliance in blindsiding Chris Hammons at the next Tribal Council. At the final ten Tribal Council, Adam told David to play his Hidden Immunity Idol on Ken after Sunday Burquest lied to him about Ken being the target, so this resulted in a tie between Hannah and Zeke. Then a rock drawing tiebreaker occurred, where Jessica picked the black rock and was sent to the jury.

At the Loved Ones Challenge, Adam met his brother Evan. He then announced that he has an advantage to steal a reward, but will not use it. Jay Starrett won the challenge and chose to share the reward with Will, Sunday, and Adam. Evan shared information about their mother's battle with cancer. To show his gratitude to Jay for sharing the reward with him, Adam gave Jay the Reward Stealer. Adam won the next Immunity Challenge. At Tribal Council, he played his idol on Hannah, which negated the four votes at against her, but it was unneeded as Will had flipped and Zeke was blindsided. On Day 34, Adam decided to get rid of Will because he was trying to play both sides. Adam's plan worked as Will was blindsided. After Ken won immunity at the final seven, Adam wanted to split the votes between David and Jay to eliminate both Jay's idol and a major threat to win. However, Hannah wanted to vote out Sunday, leaving Adam conflicted. He told Jay to play his idol, and confided in him about his mother's cancer battle. At Tribal Council, Adam sided with Hannah and Sunday was blindsided. On Day 36, Adam, David, Hannah, Bret LaBelle, and Ken blindsided Jay. On Day 37, Ken won immunity. Adam and Bret decided to target David; Adam then searched for a Hidden Immunity Idol, which he found. He then told Hannah about his new idol and plan to eliminate David. At Tribal Council, Adam played the idol on himself but received no votes and Hannah and Ken sided with David, blindsiding Bret. On Day 38, Ken won the Final Immunity Challenge. Knowing he and David were the targets, Adam practiced for a possible fire making tiebreaker, but at Tribal Council, Ken sided with Adam and Hannah and David was blindsided.

At the Final Tribal Council, Adam and Hannah argued about strategic decisions, and Adam finally admitted to the entire jury about his mother having cancer. Ultimately, the jury of 10 unanimously voted for Adam to win the title of Sole Survivor, believing he played the best strategic and social game amongst the finalists.

Voting History

Adam's Voting History
Episode	Adam's Votes	Voted Against Adam
1	Vanua Tribe Immune
2	Figgy	-
3	Vanua Tribe Immune
4	Vanua Tribe Immune
5	Takali Tribe Immune
6	Figgy	-
7	Takali Tribe Immune
8	Michelle	Jay, Michelle, Taylor, Will
9	Taylor	Taylor
10	Chris	-
10	Zeke; Zeke¹	-
11	Zeke	Individual Immunity
12	Will	-
12	Sunday	-
13	Jay	-
	David	-²
	David	David
Jury Votes for Adam	Bret, Chris, David, Jay, Jessica, Michelle, Sunday, Taylor, Will, Zeke
Sole Survivor, Day 39

^1 In Million Dollar Gamble, the vote ended with a 5-5 tie between Hannah and Zeke, forcing a revote. Adam did not change his vote on the revote.
^2 In I'm Going for a Million Bucks, Adam used a Hidden Immunity Idol, but did not negate any votes against him.

Post-Survivor

Adam opened a non-profit fundraiser towards cancer research after the death of his mother.^[4]
On April 25, 2019, Adam appeared as a contestant on Let's Make a Deal.^[5]

Trivia

Adam was the one who suggested the name Vinaka for the merged tribe.^[6]
Adam is the first castaway to find and possess the Reward Steal advantage.
Adam set the record for the latest discovery of a Hidden Immunity Idol, finding his second one on Day 37. Ben Driebergen tied this record in Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.
Adam is the fifth person to win Survivor in a unanimous vote, following Earl Cole, J.T. Thomas, John Cochran, and Jeremy Collins.
- Adam is tied with Jeremy for the most jury votes in a single season, with ten.
- Adam has the most total votes against him for a unanimous winner, with six.
Adam is the second Sole Survivor to take part in a rock draw tiebreaker, after Tyson Apostol.

References

Preceded by Kaôh Rōng Michele Fitzgerald	Sole Survivor Titleholder Millennials vs. Gen X Adam Klein	Succeeded by Game Changers Sarah Lacina