The lucky Florida resident who has won $1.58 billion in the Mega Millions jackpot has yet to come forward, officials said on Wednesday.
The eye-wateringly large sum was won on a ticket sold in a Publix store in Neptune Beach, Florida.
James F. Davis, secretary of the Florida Lottery, said Wednesday that officials don’t yet know who bought the winning ticket.
The mega prize, the third largest in US history, must be claimed in person at Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee within 180 days of the draw.
The winner will be able to claim the cash in one lump sum or in yearly instalments.
The Publix supermarket in Neptune Beach, Florida that sold the winning ticket will also receive a $100,000 ‘bonus commission’
The lucky Florida resident who has won $1.58 billion in the Mega Millions jackpot has yet to come forward
Lottery winners do not have the option to remain anonymous in Florida, but are given 90 days before public disclosure.
The massive win broke the end of a four-month winner drought for the Florida lottery that saw the jackpot continue to roll over.
There had been 31 straight drawings since the last time someone won the game’s jackpot on April 18.
Tuesday’s magic numbers that ended the stretch were 13-19-20-32-33 and the Mega Ball: 14.
The prize money is subject to federal taxes. Many states also tax lottery winnings. Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Publix supermarket that sold the winning ticket will also receive a $100,000 ‘bonus commission’.
One local woman, who shops at the same Publix told News 4 Jax ‘I hope it’s someone I know, I’m just kidding but I hope it is someone in the local community because that’s awesome.
‘There are so many deserving people out here.’
One local woman, who shops at the same Publix told News 4 Jax ‘I hope it’s someone I know’
The mega prize, the third largest in US history, must be claimed in person at Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee within 180 days of the draw
Another shopper told the Atlanta Journal Constitution ‘this is amazing, for the Mega Millions jackpot to be this much and for it to be in this vicinity is just (crazy).’
Fellow local resident told the publication ‘I’m happy for them, but just wish it was me, I can’t help but be a little green with envy.’
Neptune Beach has just over 7,000 residents and is around 15 miles east of Jacksonville on Florida’s Atlantic Coast.
Davis told the Associated Press: ‘These individuals are going to perhaps contact a lawyer, contact a financial adviser and make sure they get their ducks in a row.
‘Because as you know when you are a winner you have an opportunity to be able to make such a difference in so many individual lives.’
Describing the moment he found out there had been a Mega Millions winner in Florida David said he was in a meeting of the Multi-State Lottery Association in Iowa, ‘I actually walked into the meeting room and everyone proceeded to start clapping, which was pretty exciting and exhilarating all at the same time.’
‘I’ll just tell you the last two winners of the Powerball have been in California, and I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed for the next winner to be here in the state of Florida,’ he said.
The latest winner has scooped the biggest prize in Mega Million history narrowly beating out the previous high of $1.537 billion which was sold in South Carolina in 2018.
The win may be exciting but Mega Millions players have only a 1 in 302,575,350 chance of winning the jackpot in any drawing.
‘We congratulate our newest jackpot winner, as well as the more than 43.7 million winners at all prize levels throughout this jackpot run,’ Gretchen Corbin, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement Wednesday.
‘We also celebrate the funds generated for the many good causes supported by our participating lotteries.’
