One man's incredible fate after playing the lottery: he wins $1.28 billion, 4th largest win in the world
Steph Deschamps / August 1, 2022
The lottery's jackpot has been growing for more than three months, as have the dreams of its players, as no one has been able to guess the right six numbers in the previous 29 draws. On Friday, just over $1 billion was at stake.
And after the draw on Friday, one man's life was turned upside down. This American won $1.28 billion when he discovered all the right numbers. He had a one in 302.5 million chance of winning the jackpot and yet he did. For comparison, the probability of being struck by lightning is 1 in 1 million, according to data from the U.S. health authorities.
The $1 billion won on Friday represents what the lucky winner will get if he agrees to spread the payment over more than 30 years. If he wished to receive his prize all at once, he would only receive a modest $603 million - some of which would then be withheld by taxes - according to an estimate by Mega Millions.
Details on the winner are not yet known. We look forward to congratulating this person, said Pat McDonald, director of the Mega Millions Consortium.
The largest win ever is $1.586 billion. It was won in January 2016 in the other major U.S. lottery, Powerball, but the loot was split between three winners.
Mega Millions was created in 2002. Its formula has been changed several times to lower the probability of hitting the jackpot, which has regularly raised the jackpot to several hundred million dollars.