Only One Winner
Record MegaMillions Jackpot Winner
The winning ticket was sold in South Carolina, and the winning numbers were 5, 28, 62, 65 and 70, plus the MegaBall 5. The winner can now choose whether to accept 30 annuity payments over 30 years or to take a lump sum amount which will be reduced to USD$904 million before taxes. Either way, safe to say that this record-breaking winner can give up the day job!
In recent days and weeks lengthy queues have been a common sight at petrol stations and shope in the U.S. as lottery fever took hold of the country. Likewise, here at Lottoland we enjoyed a surge of sales thanks to that giant MegaMillions jackpot, which smashed the previous MegaMillions jackpot record of USD$656 million.
| Biggest Lottery Jackpots | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lottery | Record Jackpot | NZD Value |
| Powerball (US)* | USD$1.586 billion | $2.4 billion |
| MegaMillions [US]* | USD$1.537 billion | $2.3 billion |
| SuperEnaLotto [IT]** | €209 million | $360 million |
| EuroMillions [EU] | €190 million | $290 million |
| EuroJackpot [EU] | €90 million | $157 million |
So Close to a World Record
If this MegaMillions jackpot had rolled over again it would have topped the USD$2 billion mark, according to the Texas lottery office, which would have made it the all-time largest lottery jackpot. However, the winning ticket has been confirmed which means that the MegaMillions jackpot will revert to USD$40 million (approx. NZD$61 million).
This MegaMillions jackpot rolled over no fewer than 25 times before finally being won, but this record-breaker was certainly worth waiting for. However, it still hasn't (quite) beaten the previous world record for a lottery jackpot which is the USD$1.58 billion Powerball prize which was split between three ticket holders from California, Florida and Tennessee.
The record for a single ticket jackpot win was the USD$758 million won by Mavis Wanczyk from Massachusetts in 2017 and that second record has now been consigned to the history books thanks to this latest monster jackpot win by a single ticket-holder. We may never find out just who that winner is though, since South Carolina is one of the few states to allow MegaMillions winners to remain anonymous.
Millions of Winners
Since the MegaMillions jackpot started rolling over more than 50 million prizes have been paid out over the nine prize tiers of this lottery, with 85 of those being worth more than a million dollars. In the lead up to Tuesday's draw a massive 36 second place prizes were won, paying out around USD$1.3 million each (or twice that for the two players who paid for the optional Megaplier feature).
So MegaMillions can't manage to regain its crown as King of the Lottery Jackpots, as that honour remains with Powerball! Speaking of which, the Powerball jackpot is currently at Become a millionaire and it may just keep rolling over to threaten the new record.
If you want to get in on the action, head over to our Powerball page now to take part.
Lotteries are about much more than random numbers. There are so many fascinating stories about the people who take part in lotteries, and I enjoy being able to share those stories on these pages.
