The $1.6 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot Has Been Won
The record-breaking $1.6 billion Mega Millions lottery jackpot has officially been won! There was just one winning ticket, which was bought by someone from South Carolina. The laws in South Carolina allow winners to remain anonymous, so it’s unlikely we will find out who won. The final official total of the jackpot came to $1.537 billion.
One lucky person from South Carolina managed to pick all the correct numbers and win the Mega Millions jackpot, totalling over $1.5 billion.
Mega Millions Jackpot Falls Short of Predictions
Initially, it looked as though this would be the largest lottery jackpot in history. However, it landed up falling just shy of this record, which is still held by the Powerball jackpot of January 2016, which was $1.586 billion. This is due to jackpots being calculated by estimates. These estimates are worked out based on historical trends. Typically, lotteries see around 70% of sales occurring on the day of the draw, which means an exact jackpot is difficult to predict. Ultimately, the Mega Millions jackpot fell just short of the estimates, but we’re sure the winner won’t be complaining.
The jackpot for the lottery hasn’t been won since 24 July and will now reset to just $40 million. The lucky gambler from South Carolina now has 180 days to claim their money and has some very big decisions to make. The first decision will be whether to take the lump-sum payout, which totals $878 million, or the annual payments that take 30 years to pay out fully. Most winners tend to take the lump sum. They will also need to decide if they remain anonymous or not. South Carolina is one of eight states that participate in Mega Millions that allow the winner to remain unknown to the public.
Powerball Jackpot Still Up for Grabs
If you weren’t lucky this time, there’s still the Powerball draw, which could see you winning $620 million. And the odds of winning are slightly better as well. You should also make sure you check your ticket, because there were 36 tickets sold that matched five of the numbers, entitling the player to a $1 million prize. In total, there were 15 750 013 tickets sold that will win something, so don’t throw your ticket away too quickly.
Congratulations to the winner from South Carolina, we can’t say we’re not extremely jealous.