Someone in Arkansas Just Won $1.8 Billion on Christmas Eve and We Have Questions
Christmas came early for one person in Cabot, Arkansas. And by early I mean $1.817 billion early.
The Powerball jackpot hit on Christmas Eve, making it the second-largest lottery prize in American history. One ticket. One winner. One very changed life.
The Details
NPR reports the winning numbers were 4, 25, 31, 52, 59 with Powerball 19. The ticket was sold at a Murphy USA gas station in Cabot, about 25 miles northeast of Little Rock.
Final ticket sales pushed the jackpot higher than expected. The cash option – which most winners take – comes out to $834.9 million before taxes. Still not a bad haul for a $2 ticket.
CBS News notes this was the 47th drawing in this jackpot cycle, setting a record for the longest run. The last winner came in September when two tickets split $1.787 billion.
What Makes This One Special
Its only the second time Arkansas has produced a Powerball jackpot winner. The first was way back in 2010. So this is genuinely historic for the state.
Powerball’s been won once before on Christmas Eve – that was 2011. Four times on Christmas Day. But never anything close to this size on a holiday.
The odds of hitting all six numbers? One in 292.2 million. A math professor compared it to trying to guess a specific second over a nine-year span. Then actually guessing it.
What Happens Now
Arkansas law allows winners of prizes over $500,000 to remain anonymous. Given the size of this prize, staying anonymous seems wise. We may never know who actually won.
The winner has 180 days to claim the prize. They can take the annuity option – 30 payments over 29 years increasing by 5% each time – or the lump sum. Financial advisors almost universally recommend the lump sum for control reasons, but $1.8 billion paid over three decades isn’t exactly a bad deal either.
The Rest of Us
The jackpot resets to $20 million for Saturday’s drawing. Self-care includes acknowledging you probably won’t win the lottery but also that $2 for a dream isn’t the worst investment.
Someone who bought a ticket at a gas station on a random Tuesday before Christmas just became a billionaire. Merry Christmas indeed.