A Mega Millions lottery ticket sold at a Shasta County gas station has won an estimated $1.22 billion in prize money, officials announced Friday.
The ticket was sold at Sunshine Food and Gas, 3505 Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, with winning numbers 3-7-37-49-55 − 6 MegaBall, 3x MegaPlier, the California Lottery announced. The identity of the new billionaire was not immediately known.
Jackpot winners can choose to receive their winnings in a series of payments over 30 years or as a one-time cash payment of approximately $549.7 million. Winners typically choose the cash option, lottery officials said.
The jackpot is the fifth-largest prize in Mega Millions history and comes at the end of a year when jackpot wins are unusually low, the lottery said. By Friday night, the jackpot had been won just three times in 2024, the fewest winnings in a single year since the game began in 2002.
“Congratulations to California’s $1.22 billion jackpot winner,” Mega Millions Consortium Principal Director Joshua Johnston said in a statement. “What a great gift this holiday season!”
The $1.22 billion jackpot has been growing since September 10, when a ticket sold at a gas station in Sugar Land, Texas won an $810 million prize. This is the seventh time the Mega Millions jackpot has exceeded $1 billion.
According to the lottery, all of the more than 6 billion jackpots to date have been won in different states: South Carolina in 2018, Michigan in 2021, Illinois in 2022, and Maine and Florida in 2023. , and March was in New Jersey. The game’s record $1.6 billion jackpot was won in Florida in 2023.
Source link
