It’s one of the largest payouts in American lottery history: One winning ticket won Friday night’s jackpot worth more than $1.33 billion, organizers announced Saturday.
“Mega Millions players, check your tickets! We have a winner… in Illinois. Stay tuned for more details!” the east-central state lottery tweeted.
“We can’t wait to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon!” added Mega Millions official Pat McDonald in a press release.
The jackpot was initially estimated at $1.28 billion, but “the final value was higher than estimated,” based on actual sales, Mega Millions explained.
One chance in almost 303 million
Friday’s $1.337 million represents what the lucky winner would get if they agreed to spread the payout over 30 years.
If you wanted your prize all at once, you would receive “only” $780 million – some of which would then be tax-deducted, according to an estimate from Mega Millions.
The jackpot of this lottery has grown steadily for more than three months, as have the dreams of fortune of its players, without anyone having matched all six numbers in the previous thirty draws.
The chances of winning this staggering sum were only one in almost 303 million.
The biggest gain in history was $1.586 billion. It was won in January 2016 in the other great American lottery, the Powerball, but the prize money was divided among three winners.
Source: BFM TV
