American won over 1.3 billion dollars in the lottery
American won over 1.3 billion dollars in the lottery
The official Mega Millions website reported that an unidentified Illinois lottery ticket holder guessed six magic numbers to win the estimated $1.337 billion jackpot. The winning numbers on July 29 were numbers 13, 36, 45, 57, 67 and 14.
The grand prize falls short of the world record of $1.586 billion set in January 2016 by another U.S. national lottery Powerball. At the time, however, the amount was divided among three winners.
The second-highest prize ever – and the highest won by a single person – was won in October 2018, also in Mega Millions, and amounted to $1.5 billion.
This time around, the top prize amount has grown steadily for more than three months, fueling the dreams of potential winners across the country. In 29 previous raffles, the grand prize remained unclaimed.
According to official figures, the odds of hitting the Mega Millions jackpot are one in 303 million, far lower than the one-in-a-million chance of being struck by lightning.
The $1.337 billion in winnings represents the total amount the winner will receive if they agree to receive the prize in installments over 30 years. Mega Millions estimates that if the lucky winner instead chooses to take all of their winnings at once and in cash, the total would be reduced by the rules to $780.5 million, with taxes making up a very significant portion of it.
Generally, the company recommends that winners seek help from financial advisors before taking their prize money. Financial expert Robert Pagliarini also recommends that big winners “take a moment to remove themselves from the craziness of the situation” and think hard about what aspects of their lives they “don’t want to change.”
“We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest wins in Mega Millions history,” Pat McDonald, lead director of the Mega Millions consortium, said on the company’s Web site. – We can’t wait to find out who won, and we look forward to congratulating the winner soon!”
The Mega Millions lottery is distributed in 45 states in the United States.