An unidentified man in Missouri stepped forward this week to claim his share of Powerball’s $1.787 billion jackpot from the Sept. 6 drawing.
After 42 consecutive drawings without a winner, the Sept. 6 drawing produced two winners — one in Missouri and another in Texas. Missouri is among 18 states where lottery winners can remain anonymous.
His half of the $1.787 billion jackpot is the largest prize ever awarded by lottery officials in Missouri.
Instead of taking a 29-year annuity of $893.5 million, the man chose a one-time payment of about $410.3 million.
The unidentified winner said in a press release that he plans to spend more time with his wife as she reduces her workload.
“I’m going to just do me for a year,” the winner said in the release.
While the man said he likes to stay home and relax, he added that his wife might want to do some traveling.
“She’s going to drag me out of town now,” he said.
Even three weeks later, the man said he remains in disbelief.
“I’m a millionaire, a multi-millionaire, and I’m doing laundry last night," he said.
The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292 million. Powerball also offers prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million, and the odds of winning a smaller prize are about 1 in 25.
Powerball is played in 45 states and Washington, D.C.
Since Powerball lengthened the odds of hitting all six numbers in 2015, the multistate lottery generally has six to nine winners a year. All 10 of its largest jackpots have occurred since 2015.
The largest Powerball jackpot in history was $2.04 billion, won Nov. 7, 2022.
