Update: Charles W. Jackson Jr. Comes Forward as Winner
Only a couple of days after the big draw, Charles W. Jackson Jr. from North Carolina has collected his $350 million Powerball jackpot. He is a 66-year-old retiree from Raleigh and also North Carolina’s largest lottery winner ever. How did he manage to scoop this amazing pot?
He told the press that he has been playing the same numbers in the Powerball and the Mega Millions for two years now and that he got them from a fortune cookie that his stepdaughter, then aged 6, got. These numbers proved to be extremely lucky because it made Mr. Jackson Jr. and his family millionaires.
He chose the lump sum payout for his Powerball jackpot, which netted $223 million, and he was left with $158 million after taxes. So, what happens now? The first thing that Mr. Jackson wants to do with his Powerball jackpot is to take his family on a trip to Vietnam, where his wife is from.
He also wants to donate to charity and he has chosen the Wounded Warrior Project, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Shriners Hospital for Children. He doesn’t want to make any extravagant expenses, he wants his life to stay as normal as possible.
“I hope it doesn’t change me a lot,” he said. “I’m going to try not to change my life. I’m still going to wear jeans. Maybe newer ones.”
Excellent news from the US Powerball this Saturday! One lucky player from the state of North Carolina has matched all the 5 main numbers and the Powerball (06-15-34-45-52/08) and won the $350 million jackpot.
This lucky ticket was the only one with all the winning numbers, but also with all the five main numbers. There were no second prize winners on June 1st, but there were over 925.000 winners in the other prize categories in the game.
Now, everybody is waiting for the North Carolina winner to come forward and collect the $350 million prize. Imagine taking home such a fabulous amount of money! To help you visualize that, imagine taking home a stack of $100 bills the size of the Eiffel Tower. According to the Powerball website, that’s just how tall it would be.
In the state of North Carolina, lottery winners must claim their prizes publicly, so the new winner will have to come forward to get his jackpot. He can choose to receive the prize as a lump cash payout of $223 million or he can get the full $350 million over 29 years in 30 annual installments.
It remains to be seen what the big winner decides to do. Until then, the head of the North Carolina Lottery has advised him or her to sign the winning ticket and to safeguard it until coming forward. He also suggested setting up a team of financial and legal advisors to help with the process.
After the $350 million prize was won on June 1st, the Powerball jackpot is going back to the starting amount for the upcoming draw. Wondering what $40 million looks like? Well, according to Powerball’s official website, it would make up a stack of $100 bills the size of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. So, don’t miss out on a jackpot this big and put in your Powerball ticket for the next draw!