The current Powerball jackpot rose to $1.8 billion ahead of Saturday’s drawing, making it the second-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history, according to Powerball.
Huge jackpots have become increasingly common in the multistate Mega Millions and Powerball lottery drawings because of changes to the games over the years and higher ticket prices.
Between the two lotteries, more than 10 jackpots in the United States have surpassed $1 billion since 2016.
In 2024, there were three jackpots over $1 billion: an estimated $1.13 billion Mega Millions prize claimed by a winning ticket in New Jersey in March, and a $1.33 billion Powerball jackpot won on April 7 by a ticket sold in Oregon. In December, a Mega Millions ticket sold in California won a $1.22 billion jackpot.
Here’s a look at the 10 biggest U.S. jackpots ever.
1. $2.04 billion
The largest lottery jackpot to date, a Powerball drawing, was won on Nov. 7, 2022. The ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, Calif., just north of Pasadena.
On Feb. 14, 2023, California Lottery officials revealed the name of the winner, Edwin Castro, but did not release further information about him at his request.
2. $1.8 billion
The current Powerball jackpot rose again on Friday to $1.8 billion, or an estimated value of $826.4 million in cash. No one matched all six numbers in Wednesday’s drawing. The next drawing for that jackpot is expected on Saturday.
3. $1.765 billion
A single Powerball ticket sold in California won the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot in October 2023. Taken as a cash payout instead of an annuity, it would be worth $774.1 million before taxes.
The winning ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, a rural town about 70 miles north of Los Angeles. In March 2024, the California Lottery said that Theodorus Struyck had come forward as the representative of a group of people who would split the jackpot.
4. $1.59 billion
This jackpot, also a Powerball, was split three ways. The winning numbers were drawn on Jan. 13, 2016, matching tickets bought in Chino Hills, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles; Munford, Tenn., north of Memphis; and Melbourne Beach, Fla., on the Atlantic Coast.
“I think we can all live on $528 million, don’t you think?” Russ Lopez, a spokesman for the California Lottery, said at the time.
5. $1.58 billion
This Mega Millions jackpot was won on Aug. 9, 2023.
In late December that year, the company Saltines Holdings LLC in Miami was named as the winner, according to the Florida Lottery, which reported that the entity accepted a lump-sum payment of $794,248,882. Winners in Florida cannot remain completely anonymous, but can conceal their identities by creating a legal entity.
6. $1.54 billion
A single ticket sold in Simpsonville, S.C., won a Mega Millions jackpot on Oct. 23, 2018. The prize was not claimed until March of the following year, when an anonymous winner came forward through a lawyer, opting for a one-time lump sum of $877,784,124 instead of taking payments over 30 years.
7. $1.35 billion
A single ticket sold in Lebanon, Maine, won an estimated $1.35 billion in the Mega Millions drawing on Jan. 13, 2023. A winner came forward a month later but chose to remain anonymous, officials said. The person collected the prize, through a limited liability company, as a single cash payment of $723,564,144 before taxes.
8. $1.34 billion
The winning Mega Millions ticket on July 29, 2022, was sold in Des Plaines, Ill. After several weeks, an anonymous winner came forward. Illinois is one of several states that allow lottery winners to keep their names and addresses confidential.
9. $1.33 billion
A Powerball drawing that was announced early on April 7, 2024, after several hours of delays, matched a ticket sold in Oregon, the Oregon Lottery said. On April 29, the lottery said that the ticket had been purchased by Cheng Saephan of Portland.
Mr. Saephan, who is originally from Laos and is known as Charlie, said at a news conference that he was receiving chemotherapy for a recurrence of a cancer that was first diagnosed eight years earlier. He said he would split a lump-sum payment, worth about $422 million after taxes, with his wife and a family friend who had chipped in to buy a batch of Powerball tickets. He said he planned to use the money to buy a house “and find a good doctor for myself.”
10. $1.22 billion
A single winning ticket for the Dec. 27, 2024, Mega Millions jackpot was sold in Cottonwood, Calif., when the prize had reached an estimated $1.22 billion, or $549.7 million cash.
That was the fourth Mega Millions jackpot won in 2024, the fewest in any year since the game began in 2002, the lottery organization said. The last jackpot was won in Texas in September. In 2023, there were a record 10 jackpots won.
Reporting was contributed by Orlando Mayorquín, Mike Ives, Eduardo Medina, April Rubin, Jesus Jiménez, John Yoon, Jenny Gross and Amanda Holpuch.
The post Here Are the 10 Biggest U.S. Lottery Jackpots Ever appeared first on New York Times.
