Powerball lottery
One in 292 million chance of winning: hit a billion-dollar jackpot in the USA
The Powerball jackpot winner(s) is from California
© Giorgio Viera / AFP
1.08 billion US dollars were in the jackpot of the Powerball lottery, which has now been cracked. The winner can now decide how he would like the mega win to be paid out.
For weeks, the sum rose and rose to almost unbelievable heights – now the jackpot of the Powerball lottery in the USA has been cracked. For weeks no player had typed the correct numbers, so that last time 1.08 billion US dollars were in the pot. That’s the equivalent of 960 million euros.
A player from the state of California can look forward to the huge prize money. According to the lottery, at least the successful ticket was sold there – namely in a supermarket in Los Angeles. The lottery winner only had to invest two dollars. It was the third-biggest jackpot in lottery history and the sixth-biggest ever won in the United States, Powerball said.
Powerball jackpot: $558 million once or a billion in installments?
The winner now has the choice of having the huge sum paid out in installments. In that case, he would get the full $1.08 billion. One payment would be immediate, followed by 29 annual payouts, each increasing by 5 percent. Alternatively, he (or she) can also choose to receive the money in one fell swoop. Then, however, only 558.1 million US dollars would be paid out.
Either way, national and state taxes must be paid on lottery winnings. The national tax is 25 percent for US citizens, and the state tax depends on where the lucky guy resides. It remains to be seen whether he will reveal his identity in the near future – experts strongly advise against it for security reasons, especially with such exorbitantly high winnings.
Record jackpot was cracked last year
But not only the main winner should have come to unexpected wealth on Wednesday evening. The lottery said 36 players from 16 states matched at least five numbers correctly. In many states, the owners of the respective lots can look forward to a prize of over one million dollars.
According to Powerball, the odds of winning the entire jackpot were one in 292.2 million. The highest jackpot in the Powerball lottery was won last year. At that time, the prize money was more than two billion dollars – and the winner was also from California.
Source: power ball