WASHINGTON, DC — A lucky
US lottery player has won a Mega Millions jackpot worth more
than $1.3 billion, one of the highest prizes ever, a US lottery official
confirmed Saturday.
اضافة اعلان
The official
Mega Millions site said a single ticket holder in the Midwestern state of
Illinois — who has yet to be identified — had the six magic numbers and won a
jackpot estimated at $1.337 billion.
“We are thrilled
to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history,”
Pat McDonald, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said on the
group’s website. “We’re eager to find out who won and look forward to
congratulating the winner soon!”
The grand prize had been steadily growing, fueling
the dreams of would-be winners across the country, for more than three months.
The prize had gone unclaimed in 29 previous drawings.
The odds of
winning the Mega Millions jackpot are one in 303 million — much higher than the
one-in-a-million chance of being struck by lightning, according to US government
data.
Friday’s total
falls short of the world record of $1.586 billion, set in January 2016 by
America’s other national lotto, the Powerball, though that sum was split among
three winners.
The second-highest
prize ever — and the highest won by a single person — was in an October 2018
Mega Millions drawing for $1.5 billion.
The $1.337
billion figure for Friday’s drawing represents the total amount a winner would
be entitled to if they accepted the prize split up over a 30-year annuity.
If the lucky
person decided instead to take the winnings as a one-time cash payment, the
total amount would decrease to $780.5 million, Mega Millions estimates.
Taxes would then
gobble up a significant chunk, while still leaving an unimaginably large pot
for the winner.
Winners are
generally advised to immediately seek assistance from financial advisors, even
before claiming the prize money.
Financial planner Robert Pagliarini also recommends
that big winners “step outside the craziness of the situation for a moment,”
and think hard about what parts of their life they “don’t want to change.”
Mega Millions is played
in 45 US states.
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