Posted on: September 28, 2023, 01:28h.
Last updated on: September 28, 2023, 01:28h.
The Mega Millions jackpot winner from August, who claimed their $1.602 billion prize on September 25, remains anonymous due to a Florida law. This legislation allows lottery winners to keep their identities confidential for up to 90 days after claiming their prizes.
This law was implemented to protect the safety and privacy of lottery winners, who have been targeted in the past. The Mega Millions winner will remain anonymous until December 24.
Florida’s legislation was a response to instances of lottery winners being subjected to both violent and nonviolent acts due to publicly available information. The winner of the $1.6 billion jackpot can enjoy their prize without revealing their identity until the end of the year.
While the $1.6 billion win is the largest annuitized jackpot in Mega Millions history, the cash option of $794.2 million is lower than the $1.537 billion cash option won in 2018. This difference is due to high federal interest rates.
The Mega Millions winner has chosen the lump sum cash option, receiving approximately $500.38 million after federal taxes. Luckily, Florida does not impose additional taxes on lottery winnings.
Powerball Jackpot Update
Powerball continues its record-breaking run as its jackpot has not been won for 30 consecutive drawings since July. The next drawing on Saturday is estimated to have an annuitized prize of $925 million, with a cash value of $434.2 million.
The Powerball jackpot is nearing the billion-dollar mark. Throughout US history, there have only been eight lottery jackpots that have exceeded $1 billion.
Mega Millions has been responsible for five of these billion-dollar jackpots, while Powerball has had three. If no one wins the Powerball jackpot on Saturday, it will become the ninth billion-dollar jackpot in US history.