Agree, it’s nice to suddenly get rich at any age (especially if the prerequisites for this were not even planned), and even more so at the age of 84! Unspeakably lucky retiree from Missouri! No, he did not participate in a bank robbery (what robberies can be at his age), did not play cards or roulette. He just bought a lottery ticket. And, mama mia - he got lucky - he won $254 million. The name of the lucky man is James Wilson. To celebrate, the generous and kind-hearted American divided the prize between his sons, who were in dire need of money, because at that time they were unemployed.
No. 14. Winning 2002 - $314.9 million
Jack Whittaker from West Virginia gave himself a significant Christmas present. He became the owner big win- a cash prize of over $300 million. However, the money did not go to the winner's benefit. Jack has been robbed twice. But he himself turned out to be a criminal type: in his house, the police found the corpse of a boy who died from a drug overdose. Jack's wife admitted that with winning the lottery their life went awry, and it would be better if this grimace of fortune passed them. Yes, you have to be careful with easy money. Maybe donate some of the money to charity?
No. 13. Winning 2005 - $340 million
One ordinary American named Steve West somehow decided to play the lottery "". And, oh miracle! fell on him from the sky impressive win- millions of dollars! The game consists in the fact that the participant needs to guess several numbers. If all are guessed, the person wins. The beauty of the story is that Steve randomly chose the numbers and hit the bull's-eye!
No. 12. Winning 2000 - $363 million
The top prize on the famous warm May day rose to $363 million. At that time, this amount was the maximum jackpot in the history of the lottery business in the world. Two won - citizens from the states of Michigan and Illinois. They decided to get their winnings in one go. After paying taxes, they received $90 million each. One of the winners never really played the lottery at all. Once, while buying fast food, instead of the prescribed two dollars, he offered the seller to take a large bill. He did not have change, instead of which he had to purchase as many as 98 lottery tickets! The guy's rage knew no bounds ... But that's how it all turned out!
No. 11. Biggest win in 2006 - $365 million
Conducting the next draw, played $ 365 million. Several people turned out to be the winners - they were all meat-packing workers who, for the sake of fun, decided to arrange their own small syndicate (pool). And on you win! That's what a friendly team means!
No. 10. Winning 2007 - $390 million
In March 2007, the organizers of the famous lottery "" promised their customers to raffle off a cool cash prize and kept their word. Those who wanted to get a few hundred million bucks were more than enough. Bundles of tickets were bought all over the country. And on the night of March 7-8, the drawing took place! From the many contenders, two winners emerged, who honestly shared the winnings with each other.
No. 9. Winning 2014 - $425 million
This retiree from California named Raymond Buxton waited a whole month to get his hands on his rightfully won prize. Why did you have to wait so long? It's just that Raymond is a big prankster by nature. He waited until April 1st and deliberately showed up at the lottery headquarters on April Fool's Day, wearing a Star Wars-themed T-shirt that read, "Fortune of the Jedi be with me." Buxton's delight knew no bounds, and he spoke succinctly about his victory: "Unbelievable!"
No. 8. Winning 2013 - $488 million
Serious win that time fell on three winners from different cities. One of the tickets was purchased in Ham Lake, Minnesota, the other two in New Jersey. In Minnesota, a man named Paul White won, in New Jersey, a whole group of 16 participants and a loner, Mario Scarnitz. Each ticket cost $86 million before taxes.
No. 7. Winning 2012 - $587 million
This smart win was divided into two parts: one went to Matthew Good from Arizona, and the second to a married couple - Mark and Cindy Hill from Missouri. Each stake pulled in $192 million after taxes.
No. 6. Biggest win in 2013 - $590 million
Unique fantastic win got to one person, and what is remarkable, he became a record single jackpot in the lottery on a global scale! The lucky one was a resident of Florida named Gloria Mackenzie. Gloria's big score exceeded half a billion greenbacks. This is real super, hyper luck!
No. 5. Biggest win in 2012 - $640 million
This prize was "captured" in the draw by representatives of three cities in different states. Big win amounted to 640 million dollars - an amount hardly represented in reality. Each of the lucky ones was owed 213 million.
No. 4. Winning 2017 - $758 million
On August 23, 2017, one person won the jackpot in the PowerBall lottery! Massachusetts Medical Center nurse Mavis Wanczyk was the only winner of a mind-blowing prize of $758.7 million!
Number 3. Winning 2019 - $768 million
And this PowerBall lottery draw took place quite recently - on March 27, 2019. In this regard, nothing is known about the winners yet.
No. 2. Winning 2018 - $1 billion 537 million
The second largest jackpot was played by the Mega Millions lottery and was equal to $1,537 million. Lucky - a resident of South Carolina wished to remain incognito. It is only known that the draw took place at the end of October 2018 and for four months no one came to win. And only at the end of February 2019, a representative of the winner (lawyer Jason Kurland) appeared in the office of the organizers and took the winnings.
No. 1. Winning 2016 - $1 billion 586 million
Three misters took a breathtaking jackpot at once. The lucky players were residents from California, Florida and Tennessee. The grandiose prize of everyone has made - 528 million dollars! Lucky people...
Lottery winners are rare lucky ones, most of whom had a hard time in life. Many fortune lovers have actually been fighting for survival for a long time, and therefore the long-awaited win that will solve all their financial problems is incredible happiness and the ultimate dream. But lotteries have their own dark side. Many winners end up worse off than they were before they were rich, getting into debt, getting divorced, getting into dangerous adventures, and, worst of all, sometimes even dying because of the cherished check. As they say, the more money, the more problems. This compilation is an edifying example and a warning of how easy winning can lead to disastrous consequences.
25. Mary Holmes
Mother-of-4 Mary Holmes was working at Wal-Mart when "random" numbers on a lottery ticket won her $188 million. The incredible amount was the 5th biggest win in US Lottery history. Soon, the life of an American woman was destroyed by a series of wrong financial decisions and courts - her boyfriend had to be pulled out of prison every now and then, and only $ 21 million was officially spent on legal costs and bail. All this seriously affected the emotional state of the girl and almost completely emptied her pockets. And then Mary found out that the numbers on her ticket weren't random. The ticket was not hers at all. In fact, the mother of the woman won the lottery, but she secretly gave her daughter a winning ticket to help Mary in her difficult life.
24. Curtis Sharp
Photo: twitter
Curtis Sharp's finest hour came in 1982 when he won $5 million. The man lost all his money in just 5 years, spending about a million dollars a year on his family, cars, real estate and women. Today, Mr. Sharp is a clergyman in the church of Antioch, Tennessee (Antioch, Tennessee), and the humble American advises other lottery winners to take a break, go somewhere for a while to clear their minds, and only then start spending their millions.
23. Michael Carrol
Photo: twitter
19-year-old Michael Carroll had already become a petty criminal by his young age and even wore a police bracelet on his leg (tracking system). The guy also managed to raise $14 million from several lottery wins, which raised suspicions of fraud among law enforcement agencies. Michael was nicknamed Lotto Lout (lottery boor or redneck) and became famous for buying himself an expensive mansion and other luxuries, terrorizing his neighbors, and throwing money around like garbage. Soon the unemployed youth went bankrupt and moved to live with his mother. Today, Michael is barely earning $300 a week (not much in the US) at a confectionery factory and admits that his past lifestyle would certainly bring him to his grave in the near future.
22 Billie Bob Harrell Jr.
Photo: Pixabay.com
In 1997, Billy Bob Harrell Jr. thought his torment was finally over. The man won 30 million dollars and was going to live happily ever after. He quit his job, took his family on vacation to Hawaii, bought houses for family and friends, donated a lot of money to his church and other charities. Unfortunately, Billy got the attention of the bad guys and made a bad deal with a lottery company giving out lump sums. From this cooperation, Mr. Harrell received less in the end than he invested. After his divorce from his wife, Billy went downhill and ended up shooting himself. Before he died, he told his financial adviser that winning the lottery was the worst thing that had ever happened to him.
21. Tondra Lynn Dickerson
Photo: Pixabay.com
20. Andrew Jack Whittaker
Photo: Ross Catrow / flickr
Andrew Whittaker won an incredible amount - as much as 315 million dollars, despite the fact that at the time of his luck he already had 17 million of his own funds. Even giving a lot of money to charity, the man could not avoid problems. He was robbed several times, and in the end it completely devastated the bank account of the "lucky one". During this time, several members of the Whittaker family died, including his mother, granddaughter, and her boyfriend. 4 years after the win, the man was completely ruined and absolutely unhappy.
19. Steve Granger
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
Steve Granger won $900,000, but after taxes he only had $600,000 left. The man set aside most of it for retirement for himself and his wife, but because of the money, the couple was constantly harassed and bullied. At parties, people sarcastically said: "Here are the lottery players." Crowds of strangers offered Steve to invest his money in gold mining or other dubious business, and someone in the middle of the street constantly tried to at least touch Mr. Granger in order to recharge his luck on winning. The family was not given any rest. It remains to be hoped that over time this glory has passed, and the Grangers have been forgotten.
18. Roger and Laura Griffiths (Roger and Laura Griffiths)
Photo: twitter
After winning £1.8 million (approximately $2.3 million), Roger and Laura Griffiths got too caught up in wasting unexpected money. The Griffiths bought a new house and decided to pursue their dream of becoming business owners. But after Laura accused Roger of treason, the man left her, saying that they were ruined and even mired in big debts.
17. Jeffrey Dampier
Photo: twitter
After an incredible $20 million lottery win, Jeffrey started his own business and founded a gourmet popcorn company. He also gave gifts to his relatives, including his sister-in-law Victoria Jackson (Victoria Jackson), with whom Jeffrey had an affair. In 2005, Victoria and her boyfriend tied up and robbed Dampier. But this was not enough - during the raid, Miss Jackson's boyfriend pointed a gun at her and said: "Kill him or I will kill you." Victoria had to kill Geoffrey with a shot in the back of the head...
16 Callie Rogers
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
At the tender age of 16, Caillie hit the big jackpot by winning £1,875,000 (approximately $2,847,000) in the lottery. At first, the girl said that she would not waste money right and left, and would simply buy a normal car and a new house. However, when emotions subsided, and prudence came to naught, Caillie spent a lot of money on cocaine and plastic surgery. Now she has hardly a few thousand pounds left, the girl is raising 3 children and studying to be a nurse.
15. Willie Hurt
Photo: Victor / flickr
In 1991, Willie Hart was a loving husband and father of 3 who won $3.1 million. But after an incredible luck in the lottery, his life completely spiraled out of control - the man got hooked on cocaine and killed a man. Hart's lawyer told the press that his client was penniless and was going through divorce proceedings.
14. Evelyn Adams
Photo: Chemical Heritage Foundation
Evelyn Adams was unspeakably lucky when in 1985 and in 1986 she won the lottery twice, earning a total of about 5.4 million dollars. But the woman did not know how to say “no” to her inner demons and other people, and therefore, in the end, she was completely ruined. After 20 years, an American woman lives in a trailer, having spent all the winning money on parties, alcohol and casinos.
13. Thomas and Denise Rossi (Thomas and Denise Rossi)
Photo: Pixabay.com
Denis Rossi won $ 1.3 million in the lottery, but she was in no hurry to share her joy with everyone, but rather kept the incident a secret. A few days later, she filed for divorce from her husband, with whom she had been married for 25 years. Later, the woman explained that she simply did not want to share her winnings with Thomas. However, the judge decided that Denis should give all 1.3 million to her husband, because she hid the money and behaved like a malicious fraudster.
12 Willie Seeley
Photo: twitter
11 Ronnie Music Jr.
Photo: Andrew Malone / flickr
Ronnie hit the big jackpot by winning $3 million in the lottery. However, he failed to manage this amount wisely. The man invested in the methamphetamine trade, which eventually led to his arrest, and now Ronnie faces a life sentence.
In 2006, Abraham Shakespeare won $30 million, and since then the man has been surrounded by people who have done nothing but take advantage of his wealth. Abraham gave a lot of money to charity and just selflessly helped people. A woman named Doris "Dee Dee" Moore (Dorice "Dee Dee" Moore) invited him to write a book about how others are trying to cash in on the lucky, and Abraham agreed to a creative collaboration. As a result, Doris became Shakespeare's financial advisor and gained control of all his property and money. When Abraham realized what had happened, he threatened to kill the fraudster, but she got ahead of him ... Dee Dee shot the angry "client" several times in the chest. As a result, Miss Moore was arrested and is now serving a life sentence.
9 Joseph and Ibi Roncaioli
Photo: Public Domain Pictures
Dr. Joseph Roncaioli and his wife Ibi were already doing well when they won $5 million in the lottery. Neighbors always considered them a happy elderly couple. However, the supposedly impeccable lifestyle of the old people changed when Joseph found out that Ibi gave 5 million to her secret son and spent all the rest, which they had saved together all their lives. Joseph was so broken that he killed his wife with a poisoned needle. The man claimed that he gave Ibi injections because of her poor health, but the accusers did not believe his lies, and Mr. Roncaioli received 7 years in prison.
8. Alex and Ronda Toth (Alex and Ronda Toth)
Photo: CafeCredit.com / flickr
Alex and Rhonda Toth struggled to make ends meet when they won the lottery in 1990. Alex received disability benefits, and Rhonda worked as a nurse. They could barely feed themselves and could not even buy the cheapest car for $200, and they simply needed personal transport. Once Alex wanted to buy a lottery ticket, and Rhonda believed that they could not afford such unreasonable waste. The man bought that ticket anyway, leaving only $24 in the family budget. The couple ended up winning $13 million, but the blessing of fabulous wealth somehow turned into a nightmarish curse. Children who abandoned them immediately appeared in their lives, greedy for the easy money of the once distressed parents. One of the relatives even tried to kill Alex and Rhonda. 10 years after winning, the Toths are back in the news for serious allegations of tax evasion. Together, Alex and Rhonda owed the state $2 million and could end up in jail for 24 years. The couple was broke and moved to live with their children. Before Alex was sentenced for tax fraud, he died due to his longstanding health problems at the age of 60.
7. Urooj Khan
Photo: R. de Salis
Yurui immigrated to the US from India in 1989 and opened his own dry cleaners in Chicago. A few years later, he bought a winning lottery ticket and could have received $1 million, but opted for a one-time payment that left only $424,000 of the six-figure amount after taxes. Alas, Yurui never saw his money, because he died a day after he was given a check for the coveted prize. A fierce struggle began for a sudden inheritance - the daughter and stepdaughter refused to share the money of the deceased among themselves and were even going to sue. The authorities believe that the man was poisoned with cyanide, but for 4 years the police have not planted anyone, and the investigation into this case is still considered open.
6 Janite Lee
Photo: flickr
In 1993, Janita Lee won $18 million and opted for a lump sum payment. The woman did something rather extraordinary with the money, distributing the bulk of it to charitable organizations. Ms. Lee also made large contributions to the US Democratic Party, and this allowed her to dine with Bill Clinton himself and Vice President Al Gore. Janita's name is listed in the reading room of the Washington University School of Law. However, in 8 years, the woman spent all her savings, and by 2001 she had only $ 700 in her bank account, and had a debt of 2.3 million behind her. Naturally, Janita had to declare herself bankrupt.
5. Jane Park
Photo: twitter
At the age of 17, Jane won £1 million ($1,303,600) and the first thing she did was buy herself a fashionable Louie Vuitton bag. The waste did not end there, and as a result, the girl brought herself to depression, lost the meaning of life and accused the representatives of the lottery company of ruining her life. However, the corporation claims that the payouts for the winnings were made on a long-term basis so that Park could manage her money wisely, which means that she herself is to blame for the unreasonable waste.
4. Amanda Clayton
Photo: Pexels.com
Despite winning $737,000, Amanda Clayton continued to use food stamps and free health insurance for the poor. When Miss Clayton was convicted of fraud, she was given a suspended sentence (9 months). In 2012, Amanda was found dead - the girl died from a drug overdose.
3. William Post
Photo: Pixabay.com
When William Post won $16 million, he thought his life would finally get better. But in fact, with the advent of money, his problems had only just begun. After 3 months of unsuccessful investments and spending on expensive things, William not only squandered all the winnings, but also owed almost $500,000. But this is not the most unpleasant thing ... Mr. Post's brother hired a hitman to get rid of a suddenly enriched relative and his sixth wife. But the attempt failed, and William's brother went to prison. Subsequently, Mr. Post admitted more than once that he was much happier before winning the jackpot, and in 2006 the American died of respiratory arrest at the age of 66.
2. David Lee Edwards
Photo: Pixabay.com
David Lee Edwards, a former prisoner from Kentucky, won $27 million in Powerball lottery prize money and decided he needed the help of financial advisors to get the incredible amount right. However, instead of taking the advice of experts, the man, along with his wife, spent all the money on luxury goods and drugs. Due to addiction to drugs, the couple contracted hepatitis, and 12 years later, at the age of 58, David died in a hospice. The man's financial adviser claims that if Mr. Edwards listened to him, he could earn $ 85,000 a month through smart investments.
1. Don Cruz
Photo: Wikipedia Commons.com
Don Cruz was the winner of the American television show HGTV Dream Home Sweepstakes, and was one of the few winners who tried to live in the prize house. The man became a prime example of why this was not worth doing. Mr. Cruise's family had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes and even put the ill-fated house up for auction in order to pay off all the debts in which the "lucky ones" were mired because of the prize mansion.
November 5, a resident of the Voronezh region in the lottery 506 million rubles, this is the largest win in the history of Russia, said on Sunday in the lottery operator Stoloto.
November 2, a resident of the US state of North Carolina Kimberly Morris in one day, the amount of winnings for which exceeded one million dollars. The woman was offered to receive the entire amount in the form of payments of 50 thousand dollars over 20 years, or else to take 600 thousand immediately. Morris opted for a lump sum and took home almost $420,000 after all taxes were deducted.
$758.7 million American Powerball lottery winning ticket in Massachusetts on August 24, exact location not named.
On April 11, a family from the French city of Dijon entered the EuroMillions lottery, receiving 83.4 million euros at a lottery ticket price of 2.5 euros. The chances of the lucky ones to win such a win were 1 in 116 million.
On October 15, a resident of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg Eurojackpot maximum prize of 90 million euros. The Eurojackpot lottery is popular among residents of 17 European countries. To win the jackpot, players need to match five numbers out of 50 and two additional numbers out of ten.
On August 12, a resident of Estonia won 1.155 million euros during the drawing of the international lottery Eurojackpot. According to the state company Eesti Loto, this win is the biggest in the history of lotteries in Estonia.
On July 29, a resident of German Hesse won 84.8 million euros in the Eurojackpot lottery. The lucky winner managed to guess all the winning numbers
On May 8, the winning ticket in the $429.6 million Powerball lottery in the US state of New Jersey. The probability of winning is 1 in 292.2 million.
March 5 brothers James and Bob Stoklas from the US state of Pennsylvania. However, the winnings were not evenly distributed: the lottery ticket brought James $291.4 million, while Bob won $7.
On February 27, a resident of Novosibirsk, a participant in Gosloto 6 out of 45, Gosloto in 358 million 358 thousand 466 rubles. He took part in three draws. His lucky bet, which the winner made in one of the city's lottery kiosks, cost 1,800 rubles. The record fell on the 1885th edition.
On 15 February, the UK's national lottery operator Camelot confirmed that the United Kingdom had filed nearly £25 million in Europe's biggest lottery Euromillions.
On February 12, a company of friends from Dublin of the EuroMillions European lottery in the amount of 132 million euros with a resident of France. The winners received 66 million euros each.
On September 19, a winning $399.4 million Powerball lottery ticket at a gas station in the US state of South Carolina.
On August 25, the media reported that a resident of Switzerland 93.6 million euros in the popular European lottery EuroMillions. This is the biggest win for Switzerland.
On August 8, the organizers of the American Powerball lottery announced that three tickets with lucky numbers were sold in the states of New Jersey and Minnesota, in the amount of $448 million.
June 5 organizers of the Powerball lottery in May. She was 84-year-old Gloria Mackenzie from Florida. She bought a lottery ticket at a supermarket in Zephyrhills, Florida, where only 13,000 people live. She had the option to choose annual payments or a lump sum payment. By choosing the latter, McKenzie received only $370.8 million instead of $590.5 million, which was the nominal amount of the winnings. Mackenzie has won the largest single-person win in US history.
On June 1, in the 585th draw of "Gosloto" 6 out of 45 ", the accumulated super prize, equal to 121 million 835 thousand 582 rubles, was shared by two participants - a resident of Perm Valery (60 million 917 thousand 821 rubles) and a resident of Volgograd Olga (61 million 518 thousand 163 ruble).
On May 28, a resident of the UK in the pan-European lottery EuroMillions over 81 million pounds (nearly 95 million euros). The anonymous winner immediately became 908th in the list of the richest Britons.
On April 26, the media reported that a resident of the US state of New Jersey, 44-year-old Pedro Quezada, on a Powerball lottery ticket. After paying all the necessary taxes, Quezada had about $152 million left in his hands.
April 6, two residents of Belgium for two 26.5 million euros in the European lottery EuroMillions.
On November 29, the organizers of the American Powerball lottery reported that two US residents who bought winning tickets amounted to $580 million.
On November 14, a resident of France won one of - 169.8 million euros in the pan-European lottery Euro Millions.
On November 6, four winners shared the biggest jackpot in Australia. The OZ lotto won AUD 112 million.
On September 18, in the 477th draw of Gosloto 6 out of 45, the accumulated super prize at expanded rates, equal to 152 million 723 thousand 884 rubles, was divided among four participants.
August 11 resident of the UK pan-European lottery Euromillions, which amounted to 148 million pounds (190 million euros).
An article about the biggest lottery wins - about jackpots in the USA, Europe and Russia. The winners themselves and the circumstances of the winnings are described.
The information is current as of early 2013. As more significant wins become available, we will make the necessary changes. In the first part we will talk about world records. The second part is the biggest lottery winnings in Russia. Here we will talk about the winners of the lottery Russian lotto, gosloto, sprotloto and other Russian lotteries.
Many of the examples below prove that it is certainly not easy to win a fabulous amount, but it is quite possible.
First, let's look at the statistics of the largest jackpots in the world. Although the vast majority of winnings came from tickets bought directly, the number of large winnings from bets made via the Internet is growing. Read more in the online lottery article.
The biggest win in Europe was 185 million euros and took place on July 12, 2011. The winning ticket was purchased in Scotland. Note that this was a Euromillions ticket.
The biggest jackpot in Australia on November 6, 2012 was shared by four winners. The amount won in OZ lotto was A$112 million.
On December 31, 2010, fortune smiled on four players in the Brazilian Mega-Sena lottery who won 195 million reais. This is the largest win in Latin America to date.
741 million pesos- that's how much was the largest lottery jackpot in Asia. On November 29, 2010, it was drawn in the Philippine lottery Grand Lotto 6/55.
Biggest wins in the USA
It is known that the largest jackpots on the planet are played in the USA. Below we present the biggest winnings in the Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries and other American lotteries:
A man named Juan Rodriguez who lives in the USA. An immigrant from Colombia, as of 2004, he has not been very successful in achieving the American Dream. Working as a parking lot guard, he earned little and was on the verge of financial ruin. He bought a lottery ticket for the last dollar, and this ticket brought him one hundred forty nine million dollars to the Mega Millions lottery.
However, his history of winning the lottery remained without a happy end. Read more.
And again megamillions. In 2006, a Virginian resident bought a lottery ticket for a challenge he received from filling up his car. This acquisition made him richer in two hundred thirty million dollars. The gas station where the winning ticket was sold was also awarded.
On January 24, 2008, James Wilson, an 84-year-old retired World War II veteran from Missouri, purchased a Powerball lottery ticket. As the hour passed, he became richer on two hundred fifty four million dollars. As a family man, he gave most of the money to his children.
two hundred nine million- just such a jackpot was hit by a resident of Massachusetts in 2004.
Andrew Jackson Whittaker, a resident of West Virginia, gained notoriety by winning the biggest jackpot to date in late 2002. And although Jack, as he is also called, was a wealthy man and was engaged in the construction business, he was incredibly surprised by such a gift of fate.
The gain was almost 315 million. By opting for a lump sum and paying taxes, he ended up with approximately $114 million in cash.
However, in the future, fate presented him with many unpleasant surprises. Read about it in the article lucky - losers.
In 2005 in Oregon, members of the same family - Bob and Francis Cheney, their daughter - Caroline West and her husband - Steve won about three hundred forty million dollars, becoming the owners of the second largest at that time. In total, the couples spent $40 on lottery tickets. Tickets were bought by 68-year-old Francis Cheney. After winning, she admitted that she was frightened by such an incredible amount. Her husband, on the contrary, was very optimistic about the huge win. Among other things, he planned to purchase a yellow Hummer.
On May 9, 200, two residents of the United States were lucky to hit the jackpot in three hundred sixty million dollars to the Big Game lottery (this is the predecessor of mega millions - the renaming took place in 2002). Since both winners decided to receive the entire winnings in full, then, after taxes, each received ninety million dollars. In an interview, one of them, Larry Ross, said that he had never been particularly fond of lotteries. He had the winning ticket because the hot dog vendor didn't have change from a hundred dollars, and Larry had to take it with lottery tickets.
The following example shows that not only singles are lucky. In Lincoln, Nebraska, eight workers from the local meatpacking plant regularly purchased Powerball tickets. In 2006, luck smiled at them. One of the biggest jackpots - three hundred sixty five million dollars got it to them. In general, playing the lottery together is a fairly common phenomenon in the world. However, there are rules here too. Please see the lottery tips article. Perhaps the information given in it will seem banal to you, but still it will not be superfluous.
Also, if we talk about playing the lottery together, then one cannot help but recall the so-called lottery syndicates. In short, a syndicate is an association of players that increases the probability of winning for each participant, however, the winnings are distributed among all participants. Read more in the article lottery syndicates.
One of the biggest winnings in the mega million lottery - three hundred ninety million dollars was drawn on the night of March 7, 2007. I must say that at that time it was the largest jackpot in the world, which caused a huge stir. Large queues lined up in front of points of sale and terminals.
In the end, we won two tickets. One of them was purchased at a grocery store in a small town in Georgia by truck driver Ed Nybors. The second was bought by Helen and Harold Mesner, a resident of New Jersey.
On November 28, 2012, the third largest lottery prize to date was won - $580 million. Won 2 tickets - one from Missouri and the second from Arizona. The Missouri Powerball lottery winners are Mark and Cindy Hill. Recently, this couple had financial difficulties. Cindy was an office manager but lost her job in 2010. Mark worked in a factory.
The couple have three adult children and a 6-year-old adopted daughter from China.
Third largest jackpot five hundred ninety million dollars May 18, 2013 was drawn in the Powerball lottery. The winner, 84-year-old Gloria McKenzie from Florida, bought her ticket at a supermarket. “The man in front of me in line for tickets let me go ahead. Perhaps this is why I was lucky,” Mackenzie said.
She learned that she had won their television broadcast, but did not immediately turn to the organizers of the lottery for a prize, first consulted with lawyers. Like many other lucky ones, she chose to receive all the amounts at once, and received three hundred and ninety million dollars. At the moment, this is the largest amount received by one person.
Two lucky winners - one from California, the other from Georgia - shared the second largest lottery jackpot in history - six hundred forty-eight million dollars. The Mega Millions lottery draw was held on December 17, 2013.
The name of the lucky winner is Steve Tran. He often bought lottery tickets, and finally luck smiled at him. By profession, Steve is a truck driver. A ticket containing a winning combination - 8, 14, 17, 20, 39 and a bonus number - 7 he bought in the city of San Jose, while on vacation there with his family. It should also be noted that in the United States there is a practice when the organizers of the lottery also reward the distribution point - in this case, the gift shop received a million dollars.
At the first place - record jackpot of $640 million. Once again, the MegaMillions lottery set a record. This happened in 2012. Won three tickets in three different cities - Red Bud, Baltimore and one of the cities in the state.
This concludes the history of winnings in the American lotteries and now let's talk about the biggest wins we have.
Biggest lottery win in Russia
In March 2009, a resident of Kolpino (a suburb of St. Petersburg) Albert Begrakyanwon the gosloto lottery jackpot 6 out of 45. The winnings amounted to approx. one hundred million rubles. And today it is the largest jackpot in the history of Russian lotteries.
Albert Begrakyan with his wife and children came from Armenia to Russia in 2001. Fate has not always been so kind to him. At first, he got a job as a security guard, then opened a store, after a while he became the head of a car service. But Albert always believed in his luck, and therefore periodically purchased lottery tickets.
He disposed of the amount received as follows: he invested 30 million rubles in the construction of his own hotel in the Krasnodar Territory, acquired several apartments in St. Petersburg, as well as cars for himself and his relatives. I just spent part of it - on travel and other pleasant little things.
Even at the end of 2013, this is the biggest jackpot in Russia.
On June 1, 2013, in the 585th draw of the State Loto 6 out of 45, two players guessed all six numbers. The first one made a detailed bet, and according to a receipt worth 3,780 rubles, he won 61 518 163 rubles. He bought his ticket at a cell phone shop. The second - a resident of the Krasnodar Territory - also played with a detailed bet. According to the receipt bought for 1,260 rubles, he managed to win 60 917 821 rubles.
In May 2009, a jackpot of 35 million rubles was won by Muscovite Yevgeny Sidorov. The winning combination is 27,8,31,22,4,7.
Fifty-year-old Evgeny has been playing lotteries since Soviet times for many years. He invested the winnings in the agricultural business.
In 2001, a resident of Ufa, Nadezhda Mukhametzyanova, became the owner of almost twenty nine million rubles. She hit the Bingo lottery jackpot. However, this win did not become happy for her. Read about her misadventures in the article lucky - losers.
April 7, 2013 in the 1232nd draw of the state lotto 5 out of 36 prize size eighteen million eight hundred fifty thousand rubles was received by a player who bought a ticket via the Internet.
In the 1253rd draw of the state lotto 5 out of 36, which took place on May 8, 2013, he won a ticket bought in Moscow. The winning combination consisted of the following numbers: 5,7,10,17,20. Sum - fourteen million rubles.
Russian Railways, a monopoly in the rail transportation market, also organized its own lottery. To participate, you need to pay an additional one hundred rubles. And then the train ticket will also become a lottery ticket. In the summer of 2012, a prize was drawn - 11.5 million rubles. The winner was a businessman from Stavropol. And the amount he won is the largest in the history of the Russian Railways lottery. Lucky chose not to reveal his name.
On June 2, 2013, for the first time in the recent history of "Sportloto 6 out of 49", one of the participants in the 23113th draw won a super prize. He guessed all 6 numbers and got 10 million rubles.
Unfortunately, the winners of the Russian Lotto lottery are not presented in this article, since the authors do not have any reliable information about them.
Economist. Experience in leadership positions in the manufacturing industry. Date: November 29, 2018. Reading time 9 min.
The largest jackpot in the world was a prize of $1,586,400,000 in the PowerBall lottery in 2016. It was divided among three lucky winners. Florida retiree Gloria McKenzie was the sole winner of the world's biggest cash prize, with $590 million in 2013. These and other examples of incredible luck in ranking the biggest lottery wins in the world.
The probability of guessing the treasured numbers in the lottery is negligible. But this is not a reason to refuse to participate in an exciting game that can bring fabulous money. This is exactly what players who have been calculating mathematical combinations or using a win generator for years think. But for some reason it is lucky for those who did not even hope for luck. And confirmation of this is the biggest lottery winnings in the world. What amounts are played by popular lotteries and who gets them, in detail in our rating.
An incredible $426.6 million jackpot was won by a 70-year-old New Jersey resident.
Such luck was provided to her by guessing 5 white and 1 red numbers. It is the red number that is called powerball, and the essence of the lottery is the coincidence of all the numbers in the white and red fields of the ticket with the numbers on the balls that fall out during the draw.
Reference! The Powerball lottery was established in 1988. Tickets are sold in 45 states and through online services around the world, and draws are held in Florida on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 23:00. This is the largest lottery in terms of prize pool and the number of huge winnings.
The woman arrived at the award ceremony together with her seven daughters. One of them shared her emotions, calling the incident "the intervention of God." The family also shared their plans - they will spend the money to pay off mortgages and student loans.
However, the winner received only $ 284 million in her hands, as she took the entire super prize at once.
Note! Winnings in America are paid either one-time with a huge discount, or without losses, but in equal amounts for 29 years. In any case, taxes are deducted from the prize.
9th place. $447,800,000 - Powerball, June 2017
The winner of the June 2017 Powerball lottery didn't break the record, but his winnings are also impressive. The player became the owner of $447.8 million, but since he wished to receive the entire amount at once, the payment amounted to $279.1 million.
The ticket, which became fateful, was purchased by a California resident at a local small shop selling alcohol. By the way, the sellers of the outlet also received encouragement - the organizers wrote out a check for them for $ 1 million.
8th place. $448,000,000 - Powerball, August 2013
In 2012, the organizers of the Powerball lottery changed the rules of the game. After that, it became more difficult to win the main prize, but simple rewards became more accessible.
As a result, the size of the jackpots began to increase rapidly. The number of those wishing to hit the big jackpot has also grown, which also affected the size of the main super prize.
So, in August 2013, the amount of $448 million was put at stake. After the draw, the organizers announced that there were three winning tickets. Imagine the surprise when there were not 3, but 18 winners.
The fact is that 1 of the lucky tickets sold in New Jersey went to a group of players. Employees of one company jointly filled out a winning coupon. So the winnings had to be divided among all the lucky ones. It was the biggest corporate win in history.
The other lucky ones were Mario Scarnitzi of New Jersey and Paul White of Minnesota.
7th place. $487,000,000 - Powerball July 2016
A couple from New Hampshire matched 5 and 1 in the Powerball lottery, which brought them a fabulous sum of $487 million.
True, they were paid only $341.7 million after paying all dues and taxes. The couple, who chose not to identify themselves publicly, donated part of their winnings to charity.
6th place. $536,000,000 - Mega millions, July 2016
The $536 million jackpot was wagered in July 2016 during the Mega millions lottery draw.
Reference! LotteryMegamillions is one of the most popular in North America. Organized in 1996, distributed in 45 US states.
The winners decided not to disclose the names, as they feared for the lives of their children. An Indiana couple received a $378 million prize.
5th place. $587,000,000 - Powerball, November 2012
The $537 million jackpot was the largest in 2012 in the history of the Powerball lottery. This amount has accumulated due to the absence of winning the super prize over the past 16 draws. But before the start of the game, interest in the fabulous prize was warmed up to such an extent that one hour before the end of sales, lottery tickets were bought up at an incredible speed - 130,000 coupons were sold in 1 minute. As a result, the jackpot rose to a record $587 million.
This gorgeous super prize went to Cindy and Mark Hill - a married couple from Missouri, Matthew Goode - a resident of Arizona. True, after taxes, it will be reduced to $327 million, and with a one-time payment - to $251 million. It was this amount that had to be divided by two.
In addition to them, in this draw, 8 participants received "consolation" prizes in the amount of $2 million, and 58 people received $1 million each.
4th place. $590,500,000 - Powerball, May 2013
In May 2013, the record for a single super prize was broken.
Gloria McKenzie, an 84-year-old resident of Florida, became the owner of the largest prize. Under the terms of the drawing, the name of the winner was announced publicly, but the woman refused to communicate with journalists.
To process the payment, she arrived at the organizer's office, accompanied by her brothers and a lawyer, and chose a one-time payment, having received $ 370.8 million minus taxes and discount.
Before the announcement of the name of the lucky woman, this was the biggest secret in the history of the town of Zephyrhills, where about 13 thousand inhabitants live. It was here that Gloria purchased her lucky supermarket ticket. It is noteworthy that the former retired teacher was let in the queue, and she did not choose the numbers, as she bought a coupon with the values \u200b\u200b already filled in.
3rd place. $656,000,000 - Mega Millions, 2012
When the most massive lottery Mega Millions announced the drawing of the biggest prize in the amount of $656 million, the real excitement began in America. Incredible queues lined up at the stalls wishing to buy the same lucky ticket for a few dollars.
Reference! Probability of winning the lotteryMegaMillions is estimated by the organizers as 1:176 million.
On March 31, 2012, a jackpot draw was held, as a result of which the owners of 3 tickets became winners. The winnings of each amounted to $218.6 million.
The winner, who lives in Kansas, was the first to show up and chose to remain anonymous. He received a lump sum payment of $110.5 million, having lost a significant part of the discount provided for in this type of distribution of winnings.
The second lucky person from Maryland also wished not to disclose information about himself.
But the third couple from Illinois from Merle and Pat Butler did not manage to remain incognito.
The Butlers were forced to give their names by local lottery rules. The elderly couple shared their emotions and plans. They planned to invest millions in investments, but how they ended up disposing of the wealth is not known.
2nd place. $758,700,000 - PowerBal, 2017
The absolute record holder for the size of the lottery win was the draw that took place on the night of August 23-24, 2017. 2 million Americans watched the draw.
Over the course of 20 draws, players from 44 states tried to break the super prize. On the eve of the historic draw, the organizers announced a fabulous prize of $700 million. But thanks to increased demand, $758.7 million was at stake on the eve of the draw.
The odds of winning the prize dropped to 1:292,000,000. And it was used. The winner became the world record holder for the amount of winnings that went to 1 person.
The newfound millionaire was Mavis Wonzik, a health worker who immediately decided to leave her medical career.
After taxes, the 53-year-old Massachusetts resident received $443.3 million in one payment.
1 place. $1,586,400,000 - Power Ball, 2017
Even for the popular Power Ball lottery, the $1,586,400,000 jackpot was the highest ever.
The odds of winning were only 1 in 292 million tickets. And how great was the surprise when, on January 13, 2017, three winners were announced at once.
Definitely, the winners were not too happy about the presence of competitors, because the super prize had to be divided into three. But how could fate be teased with such thoughts by the lucky ones who immediately got $528 million each.
Maureen Smith, 70, and David Kaltschmidt, 55, from Florida were the owners of such a fabulous amount, who immediately received $ 327 million as a lump sum payment. The same strategy was adopted by Lisa and John Robertson of Tennessee. They lost a significant amount on taxes and on the opportunity to receive money in one payment.
The third winner from California chose to remain anonymous. Information is not disclosed about how the super winners disposed of their money.
Education: Higher economics, specialization - management in the industrial sector (Kramatorsk Institute of Economics and Humanities).
November 29, 2018 .
