One Winner Each in Texas and Missouri
A record-breaking winner has finally emerged for the U.S. Powerball lottery, with the jackpot reaching an astonishing 1.787 billion dollars (approximately 2.438 trillion won).
According to ABC News, NBC Chicago, and other U.S. media outlets on September 7 (local time), the Multi-State Lottery Association announced that a ticket matching the jackpot numbers for the 1.787 billion dollar Powerball was drawn the previous night. Two winning tickets were sold, one in Texas and one in Missouri. As a result, the two winners will split the jackpot. This is the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. The largest ever was 2.05 billion dollars, won in California in 2022.
On the 5th (local time), a digital billboard in front of a lottery retailer in Hawthorne, California, USA, displayed the Powerball jackpot of 1.8 billion dollars. Photo by AP News Agency
Lump Sum Option Pays Out 570.1 Billion Won Before Taxes
The winning Powerball numbers for this draw were 11, 23, 44, 61, and 62, with the Powerball number being 17. The two winners can choose between two payout options. One is an annuity, receiving 893.5 million dollars (about 1.2415 trillion won) paid out in 30 installments. The other is a lump sum payment, which would provide 410.3 million dollars (about 570.1 billion won) before taxes. Most winners are known to prefer the lump sum option. In this draw, 18 tickets matched all five white balls. The owners of these tickets will each receive 1 million dollars (about 1.4 billion won), while two tickets with the Power Play option will receive 2 million dollars (about 2.8 billion won).
Powerball lottery tickets are sold for 2 dollars (about 2,790 won) each. Depending on the matched number combinations, fixed prizes range from 4 dollars (about 5,600 won) for the lowest tier up to 1 million dollars (about 1.4 billion won) for the second tier.
In contrast, the first prize, known as the "jackpot," has odds of about 1 in 292.2 million and does not have a fixed amount. If there is no winner, the prize continues to accumulate. As a result, if there are no winners for an extended period, the jackpot can swell to several billion dollars. With a winner finally emerging in this draw, it ends a streak of 42 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner since May 31. This was the longest period without a winner in Powerball history.
Powerball, along with Mega Millions, is one of the two major lotteries in the United States. In Powerball's 33-year history, there have now been seven jackpots exceeding 1 billion dollars.
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