Winning ticket for $1.22 billion lottery jackpot sold in California, Mega Millions says
At least one Mega Millions player has plenty of dough to ring in the New Year after drawing the winning number. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, a ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion was sold in California for the drawing Friday night, according to the Mega Millions website.
The California Lottery said the winning ticket was sold at Circle K (Sunshine Food and Gas) on Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Sacramento. The winning ticket matched the white balls 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and the gold Mega Ball 6. Ishar Gill, a son of the store owner, said the winning ticket was “a blessing” for the small rural town of roughly 6,000 people. The identity of the winner or winners was not immediately known.
“We don’t have the slightest clue of who may have won it or who may have sold it,” Gill told The Associated Press. “But congratulations to the winner.”
The total amount of the Mega Millions jackpot would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Friday night’s drawing is an estimated $549.7 million.
Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continued to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grew. Until Friday, the last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was Sept. 10.
The largest-ever Mega Millions jackpot ticket worth $1.6 billion was sold in Florida in August 2023. Two prizes for its compatriot Powerball lottery have been larger.
Mega Millions and Powerball are sold in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is sold in Puerto Rico.
Mega Millions ticket prices are set to rise from $2 to $5 in April. The increase will be one of many changes that officials say will result in improved jackpot odds, more frequent giant prizes and even larger payouts.
Winning ticket for $1.22 billion Mega Millions jackpot sold in California
Santa came a little late, but he brought one person a $1.22 billion Mega Millions jackpot as a stocking stuffer.
A single ticket bought in California matched all numbers in Friday's drawing — 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and a Mega Ball of 6 — to win the estimated $1.22 billion top prize.
The jackpot-winning ticket was sold at Sunshine Food and Gas in Cottonwood, a community of around 6,000 in Northern California, south of Redding, according to the state lottery website.
The jackpot has been building since its clock was reset on Sept. 13 after someone in Texas took a $810 million jackpot, Mega Millions officials said. No ticket matched all six numbers revealed in previous drawing on Christmas Eve.
When no one wins the jackpot, it rolls over, and ticket sales contribute to the growth of the top prize.
If the person who bought the ticket lives in California, they could take home the maximum amount. The stateis one of eight in whichstate governments don’t tax lottery winnings.
The win Friday night is the fifth-largest in the history of the game. What had been the fifth-biggest, a jackpot of $1.128 billion, was claimed Monday, months after the March 26 drawing.
That winning ticket was purchased at a ShopRite in Neptune Township, New Jersey, Mega Millions officials said. New Jersey winners have a year to make such a claim.
“It is common for large jackpot winners to take their time to file a claim,” Mega Millions officials said in the statement.
The winner, who chose protection under New Jersey law to remain anonymous, opted for the prize's cash value, estimated at $537.5 million before state and federal taxes, Mega Millions officials said.
The federal tax on such an amount is likely to be 37%; New Jersey would tax it at 8%.
The Mega Millions jackpot found a winner four times in 2024, with one drawing, Tuesday's, remaining. It's shaping up to be the year with the fewest jackpot wins since the seven-state Big Game became Mega Millions in 2002, game officials said in a statement Saturday.
Mega Millions, played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, produced 10 jackpots in 2023, the most since the game underwent major changes in 2013, officials said in a statement on Monday.
A player from Florida claimed the largest Mega Millions jackpot, $1.602 billion, in August 2023. As large as that amount is, however, it could not surpass fellow multi-state lottery game Powerball's most valuable jackpot, $2.040 billion, recorded in November 2022.
Winning ticket for $1.22 billion lottery jackpot sold in California, Mega Millions says
At least one Mega Millions player has plenty of dough to ring in the New Year after drawing the winning number. After three months without anyone winning the top prize in the lottery, a ticket worth an estimated $1.22 billion was sold in California for the drawing Friday night, according to the Mega Millions website.
The California Lottery said the winning ticket was sold at Circle K (Sunshine Food and Gas) on Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Sacramento. The winning ticket matched the white balls 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and the gold Mega Ball 6. Ishar Gill, a son of the store owner, said the winning ticket was “a blessing” for the small rural town of roughly 6,000 people. The identity of the winner or winners was not immediately known.
“We don't have the slightest clue of who may have won it or who may have sold it,” Gill told The Associated Press. “But congratulations to the winner.”
The total amount of the Mega Millions jackpot would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Friday night’s drawing is an estimated $549.7 million.
Despite the game’s long odds of 1 in 302.6 million, players continued to purchase tickets as the size of the grand prize grew. Until Friday, the last time a Mega Millions player hit the top prize was Sept. 10.
The largest-ever Mega Millions jackpot ticket worth $1.6 billion was sold in Florida in August 2023. Two prizes for its compatriot Powerball lottery have been larger.
Mega Millions and Powerball are sold in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Powerball also is sold in Puerto Rico.
Mega Millions ticket prices are set to rise from $2 to $5 in April. The increase will be one of many changes that officials say will result in improved jackpot odds, more frequent giant prizes and even larger payouts.
