Someone in Michigan just won a billion dollars: NPR

A sponsor, who did not want to be named, uses the Smoker Friendly lottery ticket booth to buy tickets for Mega Millions sweepstakes in Cranberry, Pennsylvania. The Mega Millions lottery jackpot has grown to $ 1 billion before the Friday night draw after months without a winner.

Keith Srakocic / AP

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Keith Srakocic / AP

A sponsor, who did not want to be named, uses the Smoker Friendly lottery ticket booth to buy tickets for Mega Millions sweepstakes in Cranberry, Pennsylvania. The Mega Millions lottery jackpot has grown to $ 1 billion before the Friday night draw after months without a winner.

Keith Srakocic / AP

It is the kind of purchase that many motivated shoppers do. Eggs, Milk, and Yogurt – And Why Not? – a lottery ticket.

With only six numbers drawn on Friday night – 4, 26, 42, 50, 60, and a „mega ball” of 24 – a ticket sold at a Michigan grocery store became one of the richest people in the country.

“Someone in Michigan woke up to life-changing news this morning, and Kroger Michigan congratulates Michigan’s newest millionaire,” Rachel Hearst, regional grocery chain spokeswoman, Tell The Associated Press.

Only one person in the entire country has picked all of the Mega Millions’ winning numbers. So unlike other big drawings, they won’t have to split the prize. The odds of winning were 1 in 302.5 million.

It is the third largest lotto prize in US history. The winner – who bought the ticket from a Kruger grocery store in the Detroit suburb of Novi – has the option to either split that into 30 annual installments, or get a $ 776.6 million cash advance minus a few hundreds of millions in taxes.

Friday’s jackpot came after 37 straight draws without a winner. The dry period was not only due to bad luck; Lottery ticket sales are down nearly 50% from their October 2018 peak, according to the Associated Press Reports. Some have blamed it on „jackpot stress”.

The coronavirus pandemic has also caused a decline, as more people stayed at home rather than waiting in line to get a fortune. In response to declining sales, Powerball officials said drop Grand Prizes start from $ 40M to $ 20M in March. A few weeks later, Mega Millions Affiliate suit.

Friday’s winner hasn’t come forward yet, but they might eventually have to. State law states that only Michigan lottery winners can remain anonymous – but Mega Millions are played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C. and the US Virgin Islands.

Your identity may be disclosed, and such disclosure may be required, as the winner of any award winning multinational games Powerball and Mega Millions. Michigan lottery The site states.

Friday’s jackpot is the second biggest prize this week. On Wednesday, the Powerball winner in Maryland He won $ 731.1 million (With a $ 546.8 million cash option.)

The Larger The single-ticket jackpot was claimed in the nation’s history in early 2019, when someone in South Carolina who won $ 1.5 billion applied to collect winnings in the Mega Millions Draw five months earlier. The winner, who remained anonymous, chose to take a total of approximately $ 878 million.

The next „Grand Prize” from Mega Millions will be $ 20 million.