Whoever wins the monster Powerball jackpot will have the world at their fingertips — but they’re going to have a hard time spending their spoils in one go.
Saturday night’s drawing is expected to be worth $1.7 billion, clocking in at the third largest lottery jackpot in history. But that mountainous sum is only available to winners patient enough to wait out 29 years of annual payments worth about $56.6 million per year to start (minus taxes, too.)
Winners preferring a lump sum up front would walk away with about $770.3 million if they hit Saturday’s jackpot — though that drops to a paltry $485.3 million after federal and state taxes are taken into account.
Nevertheless, Saturday’s jackpot will be so gargantuan that even the most prolific spendthrift will have to get creative to spend it all in one go.
Private islands, for example, will be chump change for the winner of the grand prize.
One of the most expensive developed private islands out there — the 565-acre Whale Cay, which comes with a five bedroom home and an air strip — only costs about $20 million.
So the winner had better pair it with a guest island at Haines Cay, which costs $37.9 million for 420 acres. But there’s no home there — and no air strip — so round it up to about $50 million with conservative construction costs for the additions.
That’s only about $70 million, however, just 4% of the $1.7 billion grand prize.
Time to get creative — why not add a fleet of retired McDonnel Douglas F4H-1F US Navy interceptor jets? They go for about $500,000 apiece and about four or ten look sharp in a line on a private island airstrip.
And the winner will need a way to get around the island, and what could be cooler that the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 with its gullwing doors and stainless steel body?
DeLorean made about 9,000 models before the business folded, and they generally go for about $75,000, according to Bring a Trailer. Take the lot, and it runs about $675 million.
All-in the winner still hasn’t cracked $1 billion.
To get from island to island the winner will need a boat. And at $395.7 million, the 377-foot superyacht Ahpo — with a 12-seater movie theater, garden, and cabins for 16 people — is one of the most expensive available today, according to Boat International.
But even with the Ahpo, that’s still just $1.14 billion.
So maybe the Bahamas isn’t the right island — scratch the whole Caribbean plan. What about hobnobbing on Nantucket?
There are 198 homes on the New England island currently listed for sale on Zillow. But alas, altogether they’d only run the winner about $1.3 billion.
Things are getting desperate. Maybe a private amusement park?
The Thunder Island Amusement Park is presently for sale in Fulton, New York. It has go-karts, eight waterslides, mini golf, and even a banquet hall across 113 acres, according to CNY Central. But it only costs $1.5 million. Embarrassing.
Not thinking big enough. Think big. What’s big? The Titanic. That’s big.
In 1998 a team of engineers devised a plan to rebuild the 882-foot steel cruise ship in Popular Mechanics, and found that a viable reproduction made up to modern safety standards would cost about $600 million — which in 2025 would equal about $1.2 billion.
Still not there. And boats sink, anyways. What lasts forever? The Pyramids of Giza do.
In 2012 NBC News somehow estimated the Great Pyramid of Giza would cost at least $5 billion. But that’s too much already, not even factoring inflation, so a modern pyramid of massive limestone bricks is out.
So what are the wonders of the modern world? What about bridges?
The new Goethals Bridge connecting Staten Island to New Jersey cost $1.5 billion. That’s close enough. Buy it, name it, and pick up a dozen of those DeLoreans to drive across it, and the winner will finally be all in.
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