Meet the biggest Powerball winner of all times! His name is Manuel Franco, he is from Wisconsin, and he is 24 years old. He is also the proud winner of a $768 million jackpot, as of March 27th, 2019. He took his time to prepare for the event, but he has now come forward to claim his prize.
You may be wondering how he managed to win such an enormous jackpot. On one hand it was his dedication to the game and the perseverance he’s shown over the years, and on the other hand, it was the inspiration of the moment.
Manuel Franco is 24 now, but he has been a faithful Powerball player for 6 years now. The first ticket he ever bought was on his 18th birthday and since then, he’s been playing on a regular basis. But even so, on March 27th, Manuel felt that something big was coming his way.
He told the press he felt extremely lucky that day so he rushed over to a Speedway store (which will now be handsomely rewarded with $100,000 by the Powerball lottery) and bought $10 worth of Powerball tickets. He even looked up to the camera to immortalize the moment.
That’s all it took to become the largest Powerball winner! When he found out the good news, Manuel said that “I was going insane. My heart started racing. I screamed for about 5 or 10 minutes.” His father started crying and it was all a blur.
What do you do the next day after you win $768 million? If you’re thinking about a long list for the spending spree, that is not the case for Manuel. He went to work instead but soon found out that winning such an incredible amount is quite a bit to handle.
He felt excited but anxious, and he realized that winning the Powerball means that you don’t have to go to work anymore unless you really want to. Manuel spent the following weeks preparing to for the collection process of his jackpot.
He chose the cash payment for the prize, which was worth $477 million and $326 million after taxes. With this amount of money in his account, there is little that Manuel cannot do. But he is not rushing into the lottery life.
“I want to take a break, let it sink in,” he said. “I do want to help out the world but I want to make sure my future is secure.” He has every intention to make sure he will not end up like those infamous lottery winners who lose their fortunes in a few years, so he wants to make some long-term investments.