Last weekend, a person in the United States took a dramatic turn when they won a $526.5 million Powerball prize at a 7-Eleven store in Anaheim, Orange County, California, making it the second-largest jackpot of the year.
The number of times the jackpot has been awarded in California has raised concerns among some residents. In recent hours, some have mentioned DOGE to investigate this curious recurrence. The lucky winner purchased the winning ticket at a store located at 763 North Euclid Street in Anaheim.
With this winning ticket, the individual shattered a string of 28 consecutive drawings without a winner, after an Oregon resident won $18 million on January 328.5.
This weekend's lucky winner correctly identified all six winning numbers: the white balls 7, 11, 21, 53, and 61, while the red Powerball ball matched the number 2. The Power Play multiplier was set to 3X, thus increasing the smaller prizes for the other contestants.
Although the prize amount revealed was $526.5 million, that amount depends on the payment method chosen and federal tax withholdings.
The earliest option requires a $243.8 million outlay, taking into account a 37% federal tax rate as established by Lottery rules. Therefore, the winner would receive a net prize of $153.6 million.
Still, it's a huge, life-changing amount of money, coming from an initial investment of just $2, which is the price of participating in the Powerball.
It will be finalized over three decades, starting with an initial disbursement and then 29 subsequent payments that increase by 5% annually. If you choose this option, and after subtracting the 37% federal tax, the final amount would be approximately $332.984.400, equivalent to approximately $11.1 million annually. It is important to note that California does not impose state taxes on lottery winnings.
The establishment that sold the winning ticket will also receive a $1 million commission, considered the California Lottery's maximum bonus for businesses that sell jackpot-winning tickets.
Aside from the jackpot, five other people had similar luck on March 29, each winning a million-dollar prize by matching five of the six digits drawn. Two of these tickets were sold in Georgia, one in Ohio, one in Oregon, and one in Texas.
More than 928,000 winning tickets were issued in this drawing, highlighting the appeal of Powerball, even though the odds of winning the jackpot are extremely low, with an estimated probability of 1 in 292.2 million, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.
The Powerball prize varies depending on the number of tickets sold and the number of winners in each category. The top prize starts at $20 million and can roll over to much higher amounts if there is no winner. In addition to the top prize, there are multiple tiers of smaller prizes.
