A lottery buyer in Illinois is set to become a multi-millionaire, having won the third largest lottery prize in US history – totaling $1.3bn – from Friday night's Mega Millions draw.
The winning ticket was bought at a Speedway gas station in Des Plaines, Illinois, roughly 17 miles northwest of Chicago. The lucky winner has yet to cash in on their huge winnings, according to Illinois Department of the Lottery Director, Harold Mays.
Mays commented, “We don’t know whether or not they even know that they won a prize. So, I encourage everybody to check your ticket.” The winner will have the choice of gaining $780.5m as a cash lump sum or receiving payments in an annuity over the next 30 years.
Most winners tend to pick the lump sum option even though it comes with a mandatory 24% federal tax withholding. The winner will also likely owe state income tax: if they live in Illinois, the winnings will be considered taxable income at the state’s 4.95% rate.
That means the winner should expect to owe a minimum of almost $226m in taxes, lowering the take-home amount to roughly $554.5m.
The Illinois Mega Millions saw other winners, with 26 tickets earning ‘second-tier’ prizes worth either $1m or $2m. Meanwhile, 14,391,740 tickets won some amount of money across the nine different prize tiers on Friday night.
Lottery winners are infamously targeted for fraud and many mishandle their new fortunes. Wells Fargo & Investment Management Senior Director, Emily Irwin, says: “Privacy is key. That provides safety to both you and your family from scammers or other individuals who can start to prey on you.”
