One astronomically lucky lottery player in New Jersey became $1.13 billion richer on Tuesday.
It is the fifth-largest jackpot prize in the Mega Millions lottery’s history, as well as being the eighth-biggest U.S. gambling win. Mega Millions made 31 draws since the last jackpot win in California on December 8, 2023.
The latest winning ticket holder correctly matched all six numbers to win the top prize. They were, 11, 22, 29, 38 and the Mega Ball – four.
“Congratulations to the New Jersey Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday’s $1.128 billion Mega Millions drawing,” said Gretchen Corbin, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, in a press release.
“We celebrate our new jackpot winner, as well as all the prizes won and dollars raised for good causes during this exciting jackpot run.”
Big Choices
The newly minted billionaire faces several huge life choices in the coming days.
One is whether to go public with the win, as the Mega Millions lottery would have invited them to. However, under New Jersey gambling law, there are no legal requirements to do so.
The previous biggest New Jersey lottery winner, Richard Wahl, chose to do so. He has since moved to Florida.
The second choice is whether to take the full $1.13 billion prize over 29 yearly installments, or take $537.5 million in a cash lump sum.
They will see marginal tax deductions if they take the yearly payment option. This will receive $37.6 million annually for the next 29 years, not considering tax.
Bigger Winners
Whatever happens, the new lottery winner can’t (or shouldn’t at least) be dodging tax.
Depending on prior income, the feds could tax the win as much as 37%. New Jersey also keeps 8% of all lottery winnings above $500K.
That could cut the winner’s fortune down from $1.13 billion to $338.62 million.
However, Mega Millions also revealed that the prize may potentially go up as it calculates all the purchased tickets.
However much that is, it’s unlikely that it will reach the heights of the biggest lottery wins in the U.S.
The largest U.S. lottery win came late last year. Edwin Castro of California hit a $2 billion Powerball winning prize in December.
The second biggest prize, $1.17 billion, was also claimed on Powerball in California, earlier this March.
As for Mega Millions, it is played in 45 states plus Washington D.C. With huge jackpots across various U.S. lotteries, including this week’s $865 million Powerball draw and the recent $1.13 billion winner, reports have emerged of bettors in states without legal lotteries crossing state lines en masse in order to buy tickets.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
