The Mega Millions jackpot has crossed the $1 billion threshold and the grand prize in Friday night’s drawing will be an estimated $1.02 billion. The lottery officials also said that it is certain to grow as more and more tickets are bought as that drawing approaches.
Presently, the Monday’s $830 million Mega Millions drawing yielded no winners. This would send the jackpot soaring to $1.02 billion overall for the next drawing on Friday, July 29.
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It can be seen that this is the third time in history that a Mega Millions jackpot has climbed into 10-figure territory, and only the fourth billion-dollar lottery prize in US history.
The prize has been growing for more than three months. The odds of winning it are currently roughly one in 302.6 million, according to Mega Millions.
Here’s a look at the top lottery prizes ever won so far.
- $1.586 billion (Powerball)
The Powerball drawing that was held on January 13, 2016, for which three winning tickets were sold, remains history’s biggest lottery prize.
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According to reports, the winners — John and Lisa Robinson in Tennessee, Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt in Florida, and Marvin and Mae Acosta in California — split the full prize, giving them the option of roughly $533 million before taxes as an annuity or $327.8 million as the lump-sum payment.
- $1.537 billion (Mega Millions)
In October 2018, the winner of this huge drawing took their time to surface. South Carolina is one of a handful of states that allows lottery winners to claim their prize anonymously, so the ticket-holder — who didn’t make themselves known — finally claimed their winnings in March of the following year, just a little more than a month ahead of the deadline to come forward or risk forfeiting the prize.
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The winner chose the cash option for their prize, which resulted in a one-time payment of almost $878 million. While it is not the largest-ever jackpot, that number does represent the biggest payout to a single lottery winner in US history.
- $1.05 billion (Mega Millions)
This lottery prize was won in January 2021 Mega Millions drawing. As the winning ticket was bought in Michigan, it took a few months for the public to learn anything about the winners.
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The ticket was reportedly purchased by four members of a lottery club in the Detroit suburb of Novi. A lawyer representing the club claimed the prize for them in March 2021.
- $768.4 million (Powerball)
In April 2019, Manuel Franco bought his winning ticket in New Berlin, Wisconsin, a small city located in the suburbs of Milwaukee. When he came forward to claim his prize, Franco told reporters that he bought the winning ticket at a time when he had less than $1,000 in his bank account.
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Franco chose the lump sum payment option for his jackpot prize, which equaled $477 million. Wisconsin lottery officials said at the time that he would likely take home about $326 million after paying state and federal taxes.
- $758.7 million (Powerball)
Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee, Massachusetts, claimed the winning ticket for the $758.7 million Powerball jackpot in August of 2017, taking $480.5 million before taxes as the lump sum payment. One of the first subsequent things Wanczyk did was tell her employer of 32 years, Mercy Medical Centre, that she was quitting.
