Will America’s next Mega Millions Lottery billionaire please step forward.
Someone in California–where else?–is holding the latest US$1.22 billion (£970m) jackpot-winning ticket of the U.S. Mega Millions lottery, drawn this Christmas week and the fifth highest win in the lottery’s history.
The winning numbers of the Friday night draw were 3, 7, 37, 49 and 55, and the Mega Ball was 6.
The winner has yet to step forward. All that is known is that She, Him or Them bought the ticket in California.
They have the choice of either accepting their prize in a single cash lump sum of US$550 million (£437.6m), or take a secondary punt on living a long life and receive the full sum in annuities over 30-years.
Grab the money and enjoy now, not surprisingly, has been the choice of the last two Mega Millions billionaire jackpot winners; including last year’s winner from Florida who scooped US$1.6 billion (£1.27bn) — still the biggest-ever win in world lottery history.
Roll-over
Mega Millions is sold in 45 of the U.S.’s 50 states, along with the federal District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Odds of winning the jackpot are over one-in-300-million, it’s estimated.
As with most lotteries, the jackpot keeps swelling in a roll-over until a winning ticket is called.
A lottery player must hold a ticket matching all five winning numbers and the Mega Ball number to become the jackpot’s winner.
And in good news for lottery fans everywhere–unlike, for example, the U.K.’s National Lottery–, you don’t have to be in the country to play either Mega Millions or Powerball.
Punters anywhere in the world can buy tickets for the outsized lotteries through online services that cater to international players.
So in 2025, “It could be you!”
