$1 Billion or 2 Billion – Largest Lottery Won by One Person in America is ???

$1 Billion Powerball Jackpot Is One of the Largest Ever
No one won Monday’s prize, the seventh largest in U.S. history. Changes to Powerball and Mega Millions have led to more large jackpots in recent years.

After nearly three months without a winner, the Powerball jackpot grew yet again on Monday night, to $1 billion, making it the seventh largest in U.S. history. The next drawing will be Wednesday night.

No one has won the Powerball or its competing lottery, Mega Millions, since mid-April, sending both jackpots to some of their highest amounts ever. The next Mega Millions drawing, for $640 million, is Tuesday.

Huge jackpots have become increasingly common in the multistate Mega Millions and Powerball lottery drawings, because of changes to the games over the years and higher ticket prices.

Between the two lotteries, seven jackpots in the United States have reached $1 billion or more since 2016, including four since the start of 2022.

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In January, a single ticket-holder in Maine won the fourth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history, a Mega Millions jackpot worth $1.35 billion. Less than a month later, on Feb. 6, a Powerball ticket in Washington won $754.6 million, one of that lottery’s largest ever jackpots.

Here’s a look at the 10 biggest U.S. jackpots ever.

1. $2.04 billion
The largest lottery jackpot to date, a Powerball drawing, was won on Nov. 7, 2022. The ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, Calif., just north of Pasadena.

Lottery officials said the ticket holder was the first lottery billionaire in the state. It was unclear as of early January 2023 whether the winner had claimed the prize. On Feb. 14, California Lottery officials announced that the winner’s name was Edwin Castro but did not release further biographical information at his request.

2. $1.586 billion
The second-biggest jackpot, also a Powerball, was split three ways. The winning numbers were drawn on Jan. 13, 2016, matching tickets bought in California, Florida and Tennessee.

“I think we can all live on $528 million, don’t you think?” Russ Lopez, a spokesman for the California Lottery, said at the time.

3. $1.54 billion
The largest Mega Millions prize was the third-largest jackpot overall, with the winning ticket drawn on Oct. 23, 2018, in South Carolina.

It took a while for the prize to be claimed. In March of the following year, an anonymous winner came forward through a lawyer, opting to cash in a one-time lump sum of $877,784,124 instead of taking payments over 30 years.

4. $1.35 billion
A single ticket-holder in Maine won an estimated $1.35 billion in the Mega Millions drawing on Jan. 13, 2023. The wining ticket was sold at Hometown Gas & Grill in Lebanon, Maine, according to state lottery officials.

5. $1.337 billion
One lucky person in Illinois bought the winning Mega Millions ticket on July 29, 2022. After several weeks, a winner came forward. Once again, the winner’s identity was unknown, because Illinois law lets big winners keep their names and addresses confidential in most cases.

6. $1.05 billion
A group identified as the Wolverine FLL Club of Oakland County won a ticket for just over $1 billion in the Mega Millions drawing on Jan. 22, 2021. Someone picked the numbers at a Kroger grocery store in Novi, a city of about 60,000 people that is 30 miles northwest of Detroit.

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7. $1 billion
This is the current Powerball jackpot, which no one has won since April 19. It’s the third-largest jackpot ever for that organization, behind November 2022 and January 2016.

No one won Monday’s jackpot drawing, and the next will be Wednesday at 10:59 p.m. Eastern time. A winner could opt to take the payment as a lump sum, which would be about $516 million before taxes, Powerball says.

But don’t get your hopes too high. The odds of winning, the organization says, are 1 in 292.2 million.

8. $768.4 million
Manuel Franco of Wisconsin won a $768.4 million prize in the Powerball drawing on March 27, 2019. The sum was enough for Mr. Franco to quit his job within two days of winning.

Wisconsin has no law protecting the identities of people who win lotteries, which means Mr. Franco was required to come forward publicly.

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9. $758.7 million
A 53-year-old health care worker in Massachusetts became a millionaire when she won the Powerball on Aug. 23, 2017. The winner, Mavis Wanczyk, opted for a lump-sum payment of $480.5 million. After taxes — 25 percent to the federal government and 5 percent to her state — she took home $336 million.

10. $754.6 million
After more than two months without a winner, the Powerball jackpot for Feb. 6, 2023, reached $754.6 million, or $407.2 when taken as cash. A single ticket was sold in Washington, lottery officials said, making it the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot, and the ninth-largest overall in U.S. history.