Hundreds of thousands of people win the lottery every year, but they just don't win very much. The vast majority of lottery prizes are for $2 or a free ticket, and while that's better than nothing, it's hardly enough to start planning your luxury trip to Bali or put a down payment on your dream home or both.
However, every so often, some people do win the big prizes. And when we say big, we mean massive, gigantic, incredible prizes. One million dollars is great, and ten million is better, but billion-dollar jackpots are out there, and so are the people who have won them.
We break down the ten biggest jackpot winners in the history of the U.S. lottery.
Billions with an S - $2.04 billion
While there have been a few billion-dollar winners in the lottery's history, only one player has ever won a multi-billion-dollar jackpot.
California resident Edwin Castro's life changed forever when he chose the numbers 10, 33, 41, 47, 56, and Powerball number 10 for the November 7, 2023, Powerball drawing. His ticket was worth $2.1 billion, the largest lottery jackpot ever.
After winning, Castro went from a one-bedroom Altadena apartment to a Bel Air mansion with seven bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, and one waterfall.
Technically, Castro isn't a billionaire since he chose the lump sum option, but he still took home over $600 million after paying taxes.
Since his big win, Castro has amassed a portfolio of trophy luxury estates, including a $25 million bachelor pad in the Hollywood Hills and a collection of vintage Porsches.
Gold in the Golden State - $1.76 billion
California is known as the Golden State, which may explain why it is home to more top-ten winners than any other state.
In Frasier Park, CA, just 90 miles north of Castro's hometown, another big winner struck gold with a ticket for the October 11, 2023, Powerball drawing with the winning numbers 22, 24, 40, 52, 64, and Powerball number 10. Their winning ticket was worth over $1.7 billion.
While Theodorus Struyck, a 65-year-old grandfather and retired UPS worker, claimed the prize, he said he represented a pool of players who would split the winnings.
Like Castro, the number one winner, Struyck was spotted looking for a new home shortly after his win, but he doesn't have quite the same champagne taste as the $2 billion winner. Struyck was reportedly eyeing a four-bedroom house worth just $1.5 million.
Share the wealth - $1.59 billion
Three pairs of people living in three different states don't know each other and have never met, but they all have one essential thing in common: they all chose the winning numbers 4, 8, 19, 27, 34, and the Powerball number 10 for the January 13, 2016, Powerball drawing.
Interestingly, all three winning tickets were purchased by couples, including Marvin and Mae Acosta from Chino Hills, CA, John and Lisa Robinson from Munford, TN, and Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt from Melbourne Beach, FL.
The jackpot was worth just under $1.6 billion, meaning each couple took home $528.8 million. So, while they won't get the experience of being a billionaire, we're sure they're all quite happy with their newfound fortunes.
A salty snack - $1.58 billion
Many jackpot winners strive to keep their identities a secret, but a big winner in Miami, Florida, went the extra mile to ensure that no one would know they won the massive August 9, 2023, Mega Millions drawing with the numbers 13, 19, 20, 32, 33, and Mega Ball 14.
Florida law stipulates that winners' identities must be revealed after 90 days. However, this winner found a loophole as big as their jackpot that allowed them to keep their name a secret.
When they finally stepped forward to collect their $794,248,882 lump sum payout, rather than claiming the prize under their own name, they did so under the name of an LLC called Saltine Holdings.
To further protect their identity, they established their LLC in Deleware, where the owners of such companies can keep their names private, whereas the same companies incorporated in Florida must reveal their owners' true identities.
Take your time - $1.54 billion
Just to prove that California and Florida can't have all of the big prizes, an anonymous winner in Simpsonville, South Carolina, cashed in a winning ticket worth more than $1.5 billion for the October 23, 2018, Mega Millions drawing with the numbers 5, 28, 62, 65, 70, and the Mega Ball: 5.
However, the real suspense lay in finding out if the winner would ever step forward to claim their ticket. As weeks stretched into months, lottery officials were concerned that the winner would never come for their prize, which they have one year from the date of the drawing to collect.
Finally, after waiting for six months, the winner appeared in lottery offices to collect their billion and a half dollars. However, technically, they can't call themselves billionaires since they opted to collect the lump sum payout, which totaled a 'mere' $877,784,124.
Maine man - $1.35 billion
Although Maine is one of the smallest states by population and land mass, it became home to one of the biggest lottery winners of all time when a state resident cashed in a top prize ticket for the January 13, 2023, Mega Millions drawing with the numbers 30, 43, 45, 46, 61, and Mega Ball 14.
Once again, the winner chose to remain anonymous by collecting their $723,563,144 one-time cash payout through an LLC. The only thing known about them is a statement released by the Main Lottery saying, “The winner is thoughtfully considering the best uses of the life-changing prize.”
A ticket with a side of special sauce - $1.34 billion
Illinois was one of the six original states that participated in the Mega Millions game. After July 29, 2022, it was home to the seventh biggest lottery winner in history after someone scored a jackpot with the numbers 13, 36, 45, 57, 67, and Mega Ball 14.
The jackpot swelled after no one won a top prize for 29 consecutive drawings. The mania for the billion-dollar prize grew so intense that fast food chicken chain Raising Cains purchased 50,000 tickets so they could give one to each of their employees.
Ultimately, they would have been better off with a coupon for chicken fingers because none of those tickets took the top prize, and the money was collected by an anonymous partnership.
Delayed gratification - $1.33 billion
The biggest tension of the April 7, 2024, Powerball drawing was whether it would happen at all. An error by a ticket seller in Minnesota delayed that night's drawing by several hours because the state lottery was unable to verify the number of tickets they had sold.
The Multi-State Lottery Association released a statement regarding the delay: "Powerball game rules require that every single ticket sold nationwide be checked and verified against two different computer systems before the winning numbers are drawn. This is done to ensure that every ticket sold for the Powerball drawing has been accounted for and has an equal chance to win. Tonight, we have one jurisdiction that needs extra time to complete that pre-draw process."
Once Minnesota was able to verify its ticket count, the drawing was held three hours after its original scheduled time, and the winning numbers were 6, 21, 23, 39, 54, and Powerball 23 were selected.
Unlike so many big winners who wait months before coming forward to collect their prize, this big winner was in the Oregon State Lottery headquarters the next day to claim their incredible win.
1, 2, 3...30 - $1.13 billion
In order for there to be one big winner, there first needs to be a lot of losers. The March 26, 2024, Powerball drawing jackpot built up to over one billion dollars because there were 30 consecutive drawings without a top prize winner.
A single unidentified player in New Jersey broke the streak when they played the numbers 7, 11, 22, 29, 38, and the gold Mega Ball 4 and took home the fifth-largest prize in Mega Millions history. The win also represented the first time in four years that anyone in New Jersey won a Mega Millions jackpot.
Stay golden - $1.08 billion
California went back-to-back-to-back with Powerball jackpots. Months after Theodorus Struyck claimed his billion and just three months before the Acostas collected their prize, another Los Angeles player cashed in a billion-dollar winner with the numbers 7, 10, 11, 13, and 24, and a Powerball of 24.
Legally, California Lottery winners must reveal their names, so we know that the top prize was won by a woman named Yanira Alvarez and that she chose the lump sum option and collected $558.1 million before taxes. After that, she's released no statement, and nothing else is known about her identity.
