After more than a month, the winner of a $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot, the third-biggest ever in the U.S., was claimed in Florida on Wednesday. After taxes, the winner will take home less than a third of that.
Lottery officials said the unidentified winner claimed the reward on Monday, within 60 days of the lottery drawing to get a lump payment.
On August 9, Mega Millions announced that a winning ticket matched all six numbers for the $1.58 billion jackpot, beating the 1-in-302.6 million odds and making it the biggest Mega Millions jackpot
and the third largest U.S. lottery jackpot, behind only a $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won last November and a $1.59 billion Powerball jackpot split between three ticket holders in January 2016.
After federal taxes, including a 37% federal marginal rate, the ticket holder will only walk away with little over $493 million.
The winner, who bought a ticket at a Publix grocery shop in Neptune Beach, Florida, can choose to get the money in a single amount or in 30 yearly payments, the less popular option.
850 million. Wednesday's Powerball drawing at 10:59 p.m. will have that jackpot sum. Following months of rising, the Powerball prize is the fourth-largest ever. It provides players a little greater chance of winning than Mega Millions, but the chances are still astronomical at 1-in-292.2 million.
Five of the top 10 lottery jackpots, including the $2.04 billion Powerball in November, have been won in the previous two years.
Due to two rules changes over the past decade, contestants had better odds of winning smaller lottery prizes but worse odds of winning the jackpot, resulting in more unsuccessful drawings and larger jackpots.