Someone just became a billionaire!
On Friday, the Illinois Lottery announced that someone had won the $1.28 billion Mega Millions jackpot, which is the third time that the prize money has ever risen to a 10-digit figure. It's the biggest lottery prize ever sold in Illinois, according to the state's lottery organization.
The winner bought their lucky ticket at a Speedway in Des Plaines, IL, according to the Illinois Lottery. TODAY will update this story if any information about the winner is shared.
According to the official website of Mega Millions, the winning numbers were 13, 36, 45, 57, 67 and the gold mega ball was 14. The Megaplier was 2x and only one person guessed the whole thing right.
“Congratulations to the Illinois Lottery for selling the winning ticket for the (estimated) $1.28 billion Mega Millions jackpot,” said Pat McDonald, the lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, in a statement obtained by TODAY. “We are thrilled to have witnessed one of the biggest jackpot wins in Mega Millions history. We’re eager to find out who won and look forward to congratulating the winner soon! Better still, this exciting jackpot run has had a significant positive impact on the revenues for good causes raised by our member lotteries.”
On Saturday TODAY, 1999 lottery winner Timothy Schultz who won the gave some advice on what a winner should do after hitting it big. what that anonymous winner should do immediately after hitting it big.
"You should definitely seek financial advisors," he said.
Schultz noted that this is very important because it will help you "gain an understanding of what you can realistically do with the money," especially since the average person is not accustomed to dealing with such a major windfall.
But other than that, it's best to "relax" and "keep your feet on the ground after the exhilaration wears off" and just "enjoy life," said Schultz, who was just 21 when he won.
“It’s one of the most surreal life-changing things,” he said. “It can turn your life on its head and if you see those numbers matching from your ticket to the numbers that were drawn last night, it’s like a dream that you can’t wake up from. It’s one of the most exhilarating things that a person can possibly experience.”
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