How Much Cash Do They Take Home?
The Mega Millions jackpot run has come to an end! The jackpot reached a phenomenal $1.58 billion on Wednesday, and news just in is that one lucky ticket holder has scooped that lot, making one extremely lucky individual!
Wednesday’s drawing saw a single person scoop the mega $1.58 billion fortune to become only the second-largest lottery winner in history. This may be the largest ever Mega Millions jackpot in history, eclipsing 2018’s $1.537 billion jackpot sum, but it is not the biggest…
…the largest lottery jackpot to date was $2.04 billion in the Powerball draws – a sum won by a single ticket holder in California!
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So, who is the lucky winner of $1.58 billion and how much do they actually get to take home?
Although the identity of the winner has not yet been disclosed, what we do know is the winning ticket holder from Florida can choose either the record $1.58 billion payout spread over 30 annual installments or a one-off lump sum amount of $783.3 million in real cash – the latter is the most popular choice among jackpot winners. Choosing the one-off lump sum will result in the winner paying a mandatory federal tax withholding of 24%, which sounds hefty but it will still leave the winner with $595.3 million in the bank!
Other deductions to take into account are the taxable income of the winner, which could also result in a federal marginal rate of 37% being imposed on their winnings, further reducing their win to approximately $493.5 million. Annual increments would originally be $52.6 million but with that 37%, those annual lump sums will be reduced to $33.1 million once the marginal rate is applied (if applicable).
The lucky ticketholder beat 302.6 million to 1 odds to scoop the jackpot, but it is due to these phenomenal odds that the jackpots are so desirable.
“Congratulations to the Florida Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday’s $1.58 billion Mega Millions drawing,” said Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium. “We congratulate our newest jackpot winner, as well as the more than 43.7 million winners at all prize levels throughout this jackpot run. We also celebrate the funds generated for the many good causes supported by our participating lotteries.”
Mega Millions jackpots won this year include:
- The first win for 2023 was $1.348 billion won in Maine on January 13th – now the third-largest prize awarded in Mega Millions history.
- On January 17th, Mega Millions produced a $20 million win in New York
- $33 million was won in Massachusetts on January 24th
- It was back to Massachusetts with a $31 million win two drawings later
- New York saw two more jackpot wins shortly after, one at $483 million on April 14th followed by $20 million on April 18th – this was the first time in Mega Millions history that two jackpots have been won in the same state in consecutive drawings.
Source: “Smashing Jackpot Run Ends With Big Florida Win”. Mega Millions. August 9, 2023.
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