Two billion dollars
Record lottery winner buys one villa after another – experts take a critical view
Watch the video: Lotto winner of over two billion dollars reveals himself.
STORY: A man from California had already won over two billion dollars in the so-called Powerball lottery in the winter. Edwin Castro himself didn’t dare go in front of the cameras at the ceremony on Tuesday, but had a statement read out by the lottery company’s spokeswoman: As much as he was shocked and thrilled about winning the drawing, the real winner was the public school system in California . The California Lottery’s mission to provide additional funding for public education at schools and colleges also makes this a great win for the state.” The spokeswoman said $156 million of the winnings will go to public education. The winner could choose either a one-time lump sum or a pension payout worth millions over 29 years. Castro opted for the lump sum and took home the equivalent of 931 million euros.
Edwin Castro won two billion dollars in the lottery – the highest winning of all time in the USA. He is particularly active with his money in the real estate market.
On November 7th of last year, Edwin Castro made a record profit. He won the highest jackpot ever in the history of the US Powerball lottery – an almost unbelievable $2.04 billion.
As is usual in the USA, Castro could then decide whether he wanted his winnings paid out in installments or all at once. The lucky guy from California chose the latter. The lump sum is slightly lower than the actual winning amount, in this case $997.6 million. But Castro can now spend money to his heart’s content. And the record lottery winner does that too.
Lottery winner buys three luxury homes in California
As the New York Post reports, he invests his money primarily in real estate. Castro bought three extremely expensive houses. The first thing he bought in March was a villa in the Hollywood Hills: more than 13,000 square meters in size, with five bedrooms and six bathrooms, overlooking the famous Sunset Strip with its many boutiques, restaurants and clubs. Cost: $25.5 million.
Castro got a villa in his hometown of Altadena, California, for a much cheaper price. The house only cost four million dollars, is not as prestigious as in the luxury district of LA and is also significantly smaller. Although that’s relative: With more than 4,000 square meters of living space and also five bedrooms and four bathrooms, it shouldn’t be tight. The location is likely to have special meaning for Castro, because the house is not only in his hometown, but also very close to the gas station where he bought the winning ticket.
This month, Castro caught another really big fish on the real estate market: he spent $47 million on a property in the posh Bel Air district of Los Angeles. The villa there has seven bedrooms, eleven bathrooms and, among other things, an infinity pool. Castro has spent a total of $73 million on real estate. He also hired a security guard to look after him around the clock and bought a few sports cars. Castro went public with his winnings in February.
Financial experts advise against such expenses
Financial experts view the lottery winner’s expenses with great skepticism. Financial advisor Paul Karger advises against buying luxury properties for your own use with so much money: “I’ve seen clients who bought large houses in distant places and then realized that they didn’t use them regularly. In the end, they are just a big financial burden that will only take years to sell,” he told the US wealth portal Fortune. If you suddenly become rich, Karger recommends not making “any big decisions” at first. On the other hand: Edwin Castro probably no longer has to worry about the size of his winnings.
Sources: “New York Post” / “Fortune”
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