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The highest lottery jackpot payout ever was $1.586 billion from the Powerball drawing on January 13, 2016. The winning ticket was sold in California. The winners chose to take the lump sum cash option of $983.5 million before taxes.
Lottery jackpots have been steadily rising over the past couple decades as lottery organizers have changed game formats and rules to allow for larger jackpots. Multistate games such as Powerball and Mega Millions in particular can quickly grow into massive jackpots since the potential player pool and ticket sales are much larger across multiple participating states. This has led to some truly astounding lottery jackpot amounts.
In this article, we will look at the biggest lottery jackpots in history and examine what led to these record-setting prizes. Understanding the factors that contributed to the largest jackpots can provide insight into how lottery games have evolved and how organizers use game design to produce enormous jackpots.
The Current Largest Lottery Jackpots
Here are the top 5 record lottery jackpots in the United States as of October 2022:
| Rank | Date | Game | Jackpot | Winning Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1/13/2016 | Powerball | $1.586 billion | California, Tennessee, Florida |
| 2 | 1/5/2021 | Mega Millions | $1.050 billion | Michigan |
| 3 | 11/28/2012 | Powerball | $768.4 million | Arizona, Missouri |
| 4 | 3/27/2019 | Powerball | $768.4 million | Wisconsin |
| 5 | 1/5/2022 | Powerball | $699.8 million | California |
As we can see, the top two record jackpots were both over $1 billion. The current record holder is a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot won in 2016. The second place prize went to a Mega Millions jackpot of $1.050 billion in 2021. Powerball holds three of the top five record jackpots, while Mega Millions has the other two. No other lottery game has cracked the top five biggest jackpots so far.
Powerball Domination of Largest Jackpots
Powerball is responsible for the most record-setting jackpots by far. As mentioned, it holds the top prize and three of the top five. Powerball has reached the billion dollar mark four times compared to only once for Mega Millions.
Several factors have led to Powerball’s ability to achieve such enormous jackpots:
– Powerball is offered in 45 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The wide availability leads to higher ticket sales and more rapid jackpot growth.
– In 2012, Powerball went from having 39 regular balls to 59 regular balls, reducing the odds of winning from 1 in 175 million to 1 in 292 million. The longer odds generate bigger jackpots.
– Powerball also introduced the $2 ticket price in 2012 with a starting jackpot of $40 million (it had been $20 million). This allowed jackpots to grow faster by generating more revenue.
– Powerball has had several record-setting runs where the jackpot rolled over many times without a winner. All it takes is a sequence of no winners to set massive records.
Clearly, Powerball’s format and reach is extremely effective at producing monumental jackpots. Of course, Mega Millions has risen to the challenge and produced staggering jackpots as well. But Powerball’s presence across most of the country gives it an edge at generating world-record prizes.
The Biggest Powerball Jackpot – $1.586 Billion
Now let’s look at the single biggest lottery jackpot in history. On January 13, 2016, the Powerball drawing awarded a staggering $1.586 billion jackpot. The jackpot had rolled over 19 times without a winner before three tickets finally matched all six numbers.
At the time, the cash value option was $983.5 million. There were three winning tickets sold – one in California, one in Florida and one in Tennessee. The California winner received the biggest share at $528.8 million after taxes since California does not tax lottery winnings.
Here are some key facts about this record Powerball jackpot:
- The jackpot started at $40 million on November 7, 2015. Over the next 11 weeks it rolled over 25 times to reach the final amount.
- In the drawing on January 9, 2016 that put the jackpot at $949 million, there were over 440 million ticket combinations purchased. This was a record at the time.
- For the final drawing on January 13, 2016, over 529 million tickets were purchased. This crushes the previous high.
- Across all 34 Powerball drawings during this jackpot run, there were more than 2.4 billion ticket purchases.
- The California and Tennessee winners chose to remain anonymous. The Florida winner was identified as John and Lisa Robinson.
The media coverage of the build up and final drawing was intense. At the time, the $1.586 billion prize doubled the existing record for the largest U.S. lottery jackpot. Winning this jackpot was truly a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of luck. While we’ve seen a handful of jackpots breach the billion dollar mark now, this Powerball jackpot is still the reigning champion six years later.
Mega Millions Joins the Billion Dollar Club
Although Powerball had long held the record for the largest lottery jackpot, Mega Millions has also proved it can generate enormous jackpots. On January 5, 2021, the Mega Millions jackpot hit $1.050 billion after rolling over 25 times.
A winning ticket in Michigan matched all six numbers to take down the second largest lottery jackpot ever. Here are some details on this record Mega Millions prize:
- The jackpot started rolling over on September 18, 2020 when it was $20 million.
- On October 2, 2020, the jackpot hit $119 million, triggering a rule change to pump up the size. The Mega Millions starting jackpot increased from $20 million to $40 million, and minimum rollover increases rose from $5 million to $10 million between drawings.
- In the January 5, 2021 drawing, over 102.2 million ticket combinations were purchased across 47 participating Mega Millions states and jurisdictions.
- Total sales during the jackpot roll were over $1.34 billion.
- The winning ticket in Michigan belonged to four individuals who elected to remain anonymous. They chose the lump sum option of $776.6 million before taxes.
Given that Powerball was the pioneer in producing billion dollar jackpots, it was big news when Mega Millions finally broke the billion dollar threshold. The fact that Mega Millions had to increase the starting jackpot and minimum roll amount to reach this record demonstrates how Powerball’s larger starting jackpots give it an advantage in generating massive prizes. Still, the Mega Millions billion dollar jackpot proved that with the right sequence of rollovers, the prize can quickly skyrocket exponentially.
Other Notable Giant Jackpots
While Powerball and Mega Millions account for the top two biggest jackpots, there have been other lotteries that generated enormous prizes:
#3 – $768.4 Million Powerball Jackpot
On March 27, 2019, a Powerball jackpot reached $768.4 million. The winning ticket was sold in Wisconsin. This stands as the third largest U.S. lottery jackpot.
#4 – $758.7 Million Powerball Jackpot
Just over a year before setting the world record, Powerball reached $758.7 million on August 23, 2017. This jackpot was won with a single ticket in Massachusetts.
#5 – $699.8 Million Powerball Jackpot
Most recently, Powerball generated a $699.8 million jackpot on January 5, 2022. A single ticket purchased in California won the massive prize.
Biggest Jackpot for a Single Winner – $1.537 Billion Mega Millions
While lower than the top two record jackpots, the fourth largest lottery jackpot is notable for being the biggest ever won by a single ticket. On October 23, 2018, one ticket purchased in South Carolina won a $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot. The winner could take a lump sum payout of $877,784,124.
Despite being lower than the top two records, this stands as the largest jackpot awarded to a single ticket buyer in history. Every other billion dollar jackpot has been split between at least two winning tickets.
Game Design Innovations Driving Massive Jackpots
These record-shattering lottery jackpots don’t just happen by chance alone. Lottery organizers have developed and perfected methods to produce gigantic jackpots that capture public interest and reach new records:
- Longer odds with more numbers – Increasing the pool of numbers to choose from directly reduces the chances of winning. This enables bigger rollovers.
- Higher starting jackpots – Today’s massive starting jackpots allow the prize to reach astronomical amounts faster when it rolls over.
- Minimum increases between drawings – Requiring the jackpot increase by at least $10 million between drawings juices up the size.
- Double matrix games – Players choose numbers from two number pools, reducing the odds versus traditional pick 6 lotteries.
- Publicity campaigns – Lotteries heavily advertise and promote record jackpots to increase sales.
State lotteries have figured out the formulas required to produce these jackpot amounts. Of course it takes some luck too in having consecutive drawings with no winner. But the game designs essentially ensure that it’s only a matter of time before we see another billion dollar lottery jackpot, if not bigger.
How Winners Claim Huge Jackpots
For normal sized lottery jackpots, winners simply present their ticket to lottery headquarters to claim their prize. But for mammoth billion dollar jackpots, there is an entire claims process:
- Winners can usually form a trust to shield their identity and then claim through the trust.
- Large jackpot winners don’t take the full amount in one payment. It is spread over 29 annual installments.
- Winners have 60 days from the drawing date to choose between the annuity payments or one lump sum payment. The lump sum is lower because it doesn’t include all the interest earned.
- State and federal taxes immediately reduce the prize amount by 25-40% depending on income and jurisdiction. Non-U.S. residents have 30% automatically withheld.
- Winners consult financial planners, accountants, and lawyers to handle their new wealth responsibly.
Additionally, most states allow lottery winners to remain anonymous. This helps prevent their lives from being turned upside down by public knowledge of their windfall. Protecting their identity is crucial in the claims process.
Conclusion
In summary, lottery jackpots have reached unprecedented levels in recent years thanks to game design changes. Powerball started the trend and still holds the top prize of $1.586 billion in 2016. Mega Millions has also achieved a billion dollar jackpot. While these jackpots seem impossibly big, it’s inevitable we’ll see a lottery prize surpass $2 billion one day.
State lotteries have figured out how to produce these huge jackpots by reducing odds, increasing starting amounts, requiring minimum increases between drawings, and promoting the games heavily. It takes some luck for the jackpots to roll over many times without a winner, but giant jackpots are essentially manufactured by game design today.
Claiming record jackpots requires forming trusts, spreading payments over time, filing taxes, and consulting advisors. While winning a half billion or billion dollars in one shot may seem like a dream come true, wisely managing the money and protecting one’s identity during the claims process is critical.
The quest for ever bigger lottery jackpots will continue as games fine tune their designs. We’ll have to wait and see just how high the record jackpot can go before someone finally snags the next billion dollar prize.