A single winning ticket was sold in California for one of the largest Powerball jackpots ever, the lottery group said Wednesday night. At about $1.08 billion, it is the sixth largest jackpot in US history.
The winning numbers were: 7, 10, 11, 13, 24 and another 24 for the Powerball.
No one has won the Powerball or its rival lottery, Mega Millions, since mid-April, sending both jackpots to some of their highest amounts in recent weeks. The next one Mega Millions drawing, for $720 million, is Friday.
Huge jackpots have become increasingly common in the multi-state Mega Millions and Powerball lottery drawings due to changes to the games over the years and higher ticket prices.
Between the two lotteries, seven jackpots in the United States have reached $1 billion or more since 2016, including four since the start of 2022.
In January, a single ticket holder in Maine won the fourth largest lottery prize in US history, a Mega Millions jackpot worth $1.35 billion. Less than a month later, on February 6, a Powerball ticket in Washington won $754.6 million, one of that lottery’s biggest jackpots ever.
Here’s a look at the 10 biggest US jackpots ever.
The largest lottery jackpot to date, a Powerball drawing, was won on November 7, 2022. The ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California, just north of Pasadena.
Lottery officials said the ticket holder was the first lottery billionaire in the state. It was unclear as of early January 2023 whether the winner had claimed the prize. On February 14, California Lottery officials announced that the winner’s name is Edwin Castro but did not release additional biographical information at his request.
The second largest jackpot, also Powerball, was split three ways. The winning numbers were drawn on January 13, 2016, matching tickets purchased in California, Florida and Tennessee.
“I think we can all live on $528 million, don’t you think?” Russ Lopez, a spokesman for the California Lottery, said at the time.
The Mega Millions top prize was the third largest jackpot overall, with the winning ticket drawn on October 23, 2018, in South Carolina.
It took some time for the award to be claimed. In March of the following year, an anonymous winner came forward through a lawyer, choosing to cash out a one-time lump sum of $877,784,124 instead of taking payments over 30 years.
A single ticket holder in Maine won an estimated $1.35 billion in the January 13, 2023 Mega Millions drawing. The winning ticket was sold at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine, according to state lottery officials.
One lucky person in Illinois bought the winning Mega Millions ticket on July 29, 2022. After several weeks, a winner emerged. Again, the identity of the winner was unknown, as Illinois law allows big winners to keep their names and addresses confidential in most cases.
6. 1.08 billion dollars
This is the estimated total for the latest Powerball jackpot, which no one has won since April 19th. It is the third largest jackpot ever for that organization, behind November 2022 and January 2016.
No one won Monday’s jackpot drawing, so another drawing took place on Wednesday at 10:59 PM Eastern time. The winner could choose to take the payout as a lump sum, which would be about $558.1 million before taxes, Powerball says.
The probability of victory, the organization said, was 1 in 292.2 million.
A group identified as the Wolverine FLL Club of Oakland County won a ticket for just over $1 billion in the January 22, 2021, Mega Millions drawing. Someone picked the numbers at a Kroger grocery store in Novi, a town of about 60,000 people that is 30 miles northwest of Detroit.
Manuel Franco of Wisconsin won a $768.4 million prize in the Powerball drawing on March 27, 2019. The amount was enough for Mr. Franco to quit his job within two days of winning.
Wisconsin has no law protecting the identities of people who win lottery tickets, meaning Mr. Franco was required to come forward publicly.
A 53-year-old healthcare worker in Massachusetts became a millionaire when she won the Powerball on August 23, 2017. The winner, Mavis Wanczyk, picked up a total payout of $480.5 million. After taxes — 25 percent to the federal government and 5 percent to her state — she took home $336 million.
10. 754.6 million dollars
After more than two months without a winner, the Powerball jackpot for February 6, 2023, grossed $754.6 million, or $407.2 when taken as cash. A single ticket was sold in Washington, lottery officials said, making it the fifth largest Powerball jackpot, and the ninth largest overall in US history.
Eduardo Medina, April Rubin and Mike Ives contributed reporting.