Traded in $2 for a billion.
A mystery Illinois lottery player claimed the historic $1.04 billion Powerball jackpot – and only needed to buy one set of numbers for the prize.
The solo ticket holder, who chose to remain anonymous, submitted their claim for Illinois’ second-largest lottery prize on Tuesday, just over a month after the jackpot-winning drawing, the Illinois State Lottery announced.
“I chose a Quick Pick and spent just $2 on a single line of Powerball numbers,” the winner told lottery officials.
The $2 spent is approximately 0.000000192% of the $1.04 billion jackpot.
“I never could have imagined that a $2 purchase would lead to a $1.04 billion jackpot. This is truly a blessing, and I’m incredibly grateful for this unexpected and extraordinary opportunity.”
The unidentified Illinoisan bought the ticket at the Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh convenience store in Quincy, Ill., a city sitting on the western edge of the state bordering the Mississippi River and Missouri.
The winning numbers for the Aug. 12 drawing were 4, 26, 66, 67, 69 and the red Powerball 9.
The winner said they have been experiencing a wide range of emotions since the fateful night.
“I initially didn’t believe I had won, so I called a family member to confirm it,” they said. “Even after claiming the prize, I’m still processing the news and experiencing the full range of emotions that come with winning a billion-dollar jackpot — from disbelief and shock to overwhelming elation.”
The winner chose the one-time cash sum option, meaning they will receive the more modest, yet still transformational payout of $450,500,000 before taxes.
The new multi-millionaire will face an automatic 24 percent federal withholding tax, which will cut their prize to $342.4 million. Then an additional 13 percent in federal taxes will further cut the amount to $283.8 million.
The state of Illinois will withhold $22.3 million due to its 4.95 percent tax applied to winnings.
The $1.04 billion jackpot was the largest Powerball prize of the year and the eighth largest in game history.
Hy-Vee store manager Jon Marshall had predicted the lotto winner was a regular, as only 15% of customers that enter the gas station were
“I’d say probably 15% of our customers are traveling through town. The majority of our customers are regulars,” Marshall told The Post after the store sold the winning ticket in August.
“We kind of know our regular customers, and I’ve seen the majority of them so far this morning,” he said at the time.
It wasn’t known if the winner every returned to the store, because the winner is allowed to remain anonymous under state law.
“I’d like to shake their hand at least if I could,” Marshall said. “I don’t know if I can go when they collect their winnings in Springfield… I wonder if they would invite me. That’d be nice if I could go up there and meet the person at that time too.”
The retailer earned a $500,000 bonus for selling the ticket
A jackpot of this magnitude is an extraordinary event, and we’re excited to see the second-largest lottery prize ever won in Illinois officially claimed,” Illinois Lottery Director Harold Mays said Tuesday. “It’s exciting to see such a significant Powerball win come to an Illinois player, and we’re pleased to celebrate this milestone with them.”
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