We know one for whom wishes for “a happy new year 2025” will certainly be less necessary. At least financially. A winning ticket worth $1.22 billion (around 1.17 billion euros) was in fact sold by an American lottery, its organizer announced on Saturday.
The ticket was sold in the state of California, said Mega Millions, which revealed the six winning numbers on Friday evening: 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and 6. The identity of the winner was not revealed. It is also unclear whether the winner knows they have the jackpot ticket and whether they will claim their prize.
Annual payments or a one-time payment
The lottery ticket (which costs two dollars) was purchased at a gas station in the town of Cottonwood, about 130 miles north of the city of Sacramento, Mega Millions said.
The winner can claim the full $1.22 billion in annual payments over a 30-year period or opt for a one-time cash payment of $549.7 million (€527 million) before taxes.
Three months without a winner
It was only the seventh time in the game’s history that the jackpot exceeded $1 billion. This is the fifth largest jackpot in the history of the American lottery offered by Mega Millions, which sells tickets in 45 states. The largest amount won in the lottery was $2.04 billion (1.956 billion euros). The winning ticket was also sold in California.
If the amount was so high, it was because the jackpot had not been won for more than 100 days, or three and a half months! Every Tuesday and every Friday, thirty draws followed one another without a winner, increasing the jackpot each time. After Friday’s victory, the next gain therefore logically drops to $20 million.
