We’ve all fantasized about winning huge lotteries that make our lives. We have also thought multiple times about what to do with lottery winnings that are substantial. And when we hear about huge prizes in lotteries like US Mega Millions, it is natural to wonder, “Did anyone win the Mega Millions ever?”. Here’s an answer to all those questions and more. Here are the biggest Mega Millions winners by home state and some inspiration about what to do with the lottery winnings!
If you’re wondering about the Mega Millions winners by their home states, here’s a list
State | Jackpots Won |
New York | 37 |
California | 32 |
New Jersey | 22 |
Ohio | 20 |
Michigan | 17 |
Georgia | 16 |
Texas | 13 |
Illinois
Maryland |
11 each |
Virginia | 9 |
Washington | 5 |
Massachusetts | 3 |
Florida
Indiana Missouri North Carolina Pennsylvania |
2 each |
Arkansas
Idaho Kansas New Hampshire Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee |
1 each |
While there have been many big Mega Millions Lotto winners, let us take a look at some of the recent wins that made a splash.
SL.No | Date | Winner | Prize | Won In |
1. | Sept 15, 2020 | Adrian Tongson | $120 million | Wisconsin |
2 | July 31, 2020 | Douglas Cummings | $22 million | California |
3 | June 9, 2020 | $123 million | New Jersey | |
4 | February 11, 2020 | $202 million | New Jersey | |
5 | December 17, 2019 | The Great Hope Trust | $375 million | Ohio |
Being a Mega Millions lottery winner is a dream come true for many. Let us look at some of the biggest wins of all time as of January 2021.
An anonymous player hailing from South Carolina’s Simpsonville hit the biggest Mega Millions jackpot in history on October 23rd in 2018. This Mega BILLIONS proved to be great not only for the player but also for the state. Wondering how? The state received about $61,000,000 as income tax applicable on the winning ticket.
If that isn’t an unexpected bout of good fortune, what is? You’d be left wondering what to do with this kind of money. Carolina is one of the few states where the lottery winner can opt for anonymity, and the winner chose to do that and enjoy the newfound fortune in private.
All anyone knows is that the winner opted for the cash option on the lottery. This turned out to be a check for close to $878 million!
Three workers of the Maryland public education system won big on March 30th, 2012. The group called themselves “Three Amigos”. This lucky group consisted of a woman in her 20s, a man in his 40s, and another woman in her 50s.
All of them worked two jobs at the time to make ends meet, according to the Maryland Lottery Director at the time, Stephen Martino. They did not work in the same school.
The story goes that they each contributed $20, and one of them bought all tickets from three different places.
Two of the three winning tickets were Quick picks, randomly assigned numbers from the computer. They had 60 individual tickets printed out, and the other tickets had another winner, much to their amusement, which was $1. After taxes, their claim was reduced to $105 million! That’s a fortune right there and a lucky group of people.
July 24th, 2018 was an important day for the eleven co-workers of a company in Santa Clarita who won the jackpot. Thanks to their office pool, they got to split their $543 million. The people who won the Mega Millions are in the age group of 21 to 60 and did not have a regular office lottery pool in progress, but decided to buy tickets at $20 apiece in the spur of the moment. The only named member of this group is Roland Reyes.
They intend to keep their jobs but are getting ready to pay off mortgages, save for children’s tuition and travel. The ticket was sold at Ernies Liquors, and the store gets a $1 million bonus for the sale. The workers had decided to buy tickets at their local businesses due to a better chance of winning.
A Mega Millions ticket gave a family $536 million. The ticket was bought from a Speedway in Cambridge City, Indiana. The family was out for their usual trip, including a number of travel sports activities for the children. A gas station stop before the I-70 exit changed their lives. They bought the ticket on a whim after seeing how high the jackpot was.
The family chose to remain private, and the check was written to Warren D, LLC on July 8th, 2016. They were, apparently, stuck in a state of disbelief on seeing the result and closed their browser and restart their computer just to be sure it wasn’t an error. The family claims they wish to pay off debt, plan for their children’s future, and take care of long term plans with the prize money. They love Indiana and couldn’t dream of living elsewhere!
December 17, 2013, saw two winners, one in California and one in Georgia, with $324 million each. The Georgia member reportedly saw his numbers and left the following message on his boss’s answering machine:
“I’m really sorry, boss. I hit the jackpot. I don’t think I’m going to come in today, tomorrow, or ever.”
Checking the Mega Millions max winners tonight and finding out you’re the lucky one is an ecstatic moment indeed. Nothing can compare to the joy, disbelief, and confusion at that moment. This is why Mega Millions is one of the most popular and rewarding jackpots in the United States.
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