'When we say anything can happen in NJ, we mean it!' - $1.13 bln Mega Millions ticket sold in NJ
Mega Millions said a single ticket for a lottery jackpot worth a hefty $1.13 billion, the fifth-largest prize in the game's history, was sold in New Jersey, breaking a streak of 30 consecutive unclaimed drawings.
The winning numbers for the jackpot were 7, 11, 22, 29, and 38, plus the power ball 4, Mega Millions said on its website early on Wednesday (March 27).
The $1.13 billion Mega Millions lottery, the largest jackpot in New Jersey history, was sold at a ShopRite supermarket in Neptune, New Jersey.
"When we say anything can happen in New Jersey, we mean it!," said James Carey, executive director at New Jersey Lottery, at a press conference outside of the supermarket on Wednesday.
Carey urged the unknown winner to seek professional advice on handling their newfound wealth.
"Nobody is used to going from being a regular person to a millionaire or a hundred-millionaire overnight," he said. New Jersey law allows lottery winners to remain anonymous.
President and CEO of Saker ShopRites Inc. Richard Saker said, "Right now, this is the luckiest ShopRite in the state of New Jersey."
Adam Perlow, COO at Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group, confirmed that the winning ticket was not a quick pick but a one-board ticket with chosen numbers.
Tassie York, the mayor of Neptune, voiced her enthusiasm over a landmark win in her town.
"Do what you need to do and enjoy it," she said. "Just enjoy it. Enjoy it."
The winner, yet to be identified, can choose to either walk away with $537.5 million in a lump sum or spread the payments out over 30 years, paying income tax annually.
While big, the jackpot is still some distance away from the largest seen in a Mega Millions draw. In Florida last year the jackpot was $1.6 billion. The winner, who opted to remain anonymous, defied odds of 1 in 302.6 million.
Tickets for the twice-weekly draws are $2 each and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
A Powerball drawing for $800 million, one of the largest jackpots in the history of that U.S. lottery game, found no winners on Monday night.
The largest single lottery prize total in U.S. history is the $2.04 billion that a lone Powerball ticket holder in California won in November 2022.
Reuters
