Probably sometime in early November, the sole winner of the second richest lottery pot in United States history will make himself or herself known to the public.
This instant multi-millionaire won the $1.537 billion (CNY10.5 billion) Mega Millions lottery Tuesday night. One ticket sold in South Carolina bested 1 in 302.6-million odds to win the largest-ever Mega Millions jackpot in history.
The winning combination: 5 28 62 65 70 5 with a Mega Ball of 5.
Mega Millions said only one ticket matched all the numbers to win the jackpot. An astounding 36 tickets matched five of the six numbers for second-prize tickets.
The winning lottery ticket was sold at a KC Mart gas station and convenience store in Simpsonville, South Carolina, a city of 18,000. The winner can pick a one-time cash option, which still comes to a mammoth $878 million (CNY6.1 billion) before taxes.
Or the winner can opt to be paid the full $1.537 billion jackpot (minus taxes) in annuities over 29 years.
Mega Millions said the $1.537 billion is the largest U.S. jackpot won by a single ticket. It's also the second-largest jackpot ever, just shy of a $1.586 billion Powerball prize in January 2016 that was split among three winners. The $1.537 billion prize smashes the old Mega Millions record jackpot of $656 million set in March 2012.
South Carolina Education Lottery Chief Operating Officer Tony Cooper gave these words of advice to the winner: sign the back of the winning ticket; take a few days; take that deep breath again, then call the lottery.
Mega Millions, however, said the public might never know the winner's identity. Under their rules, a winner can choose to withhold his name from the public. The winner has 180 days from the date of sale to claim the prize.
Experts said the winner's next big job is growing his jackpot. They say the best way to do that is to keep the news to yourself at first; hire a lawyer and a financial planner, and choose the annuity payments instead of taking the cash lump sum all at once.
Mega Millions of lotto tickets are sold in 44 states. They're also sold in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The largest U.S. lottery jackpot was the $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won by three tickets and six persons on Jan. 13, 2016.
The winners split the full prize, giving each of them $327.8 million as the lump-sum payment or $533 million before taxes on an annuity.
