Lottery officials have announced that one Powerball ticket has won therecord-breaking jackpot, which climbed up to $2.04 billion at the time of the drawing.
“California Lottery makes its FIRST EVER Billionaire! One lucky ticket sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena matched all 6 numbers in the November 7 #Powerball draw,” California lottery officials wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
“We are so excited and we just can’t hide it,” they added in afollow-up Tweet. “Not only did California have the BIG#Powerballwinner, three more tickets matched 5 numbers missing just the Powerball in Gardena, Beaumont, and San Francisco. Congratulations to all our players!”
Just hours before sharing the exciting news, lottery officials announced that the jackpot, originally estimated at $1.9 billion, had climbed to $2.04 billion, “making it theworld’s largest lottery prize.”
Additional information about the lucky winner has not yet been revealed. State lottery officials said confirming winners can take up to two hours, according toThe Los Angeles Times.
The exciting announcement came just hours after the numbers were finally drawn following a delay over security protocols.
The winning numbers revealed Tuesday were 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the Powerball was 10,lottery officials announced.
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“When the required security protocols are complete, the drawing will be performed under the supervision of lottery security officials and independent auditors. Winning numbers will be posted as soon as they are available,” they said.
Powerball’s previous record for top-winning prize in history came in 2016. That year, three winners from California, Florida and Tennessee shared the $1.586 billion windfall.
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ExpertVictor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, says massive, and growing, jackpots aren’t happening accidentally.
Additionally, there is an increased chance that winning players can be sharing the pot. For example, Matheson said if two people win the $1 billion jackpot, they could realistically walk away with as low as $185 million after taxes.
In the event of winning the lottery, AttorneyAndrew Santana, co-chair of Fox Rothschild LLP previously shared some tips with PEOPLE after walking a client through the process in 2018. The anonymous winner walked home with $200 million.
“If you are concerned about anonymity, do not sign the ticket until you understand whether the signatory’s information will become public when the prize is claimed,” Santana said, adding to make sure to take a photo of the winning ticket. “The photo should include a proof of the date of the photo and that the ticket is in your possession on the date of the photo.”
source: people.com
