The lucky devil that lands next week’s Mega Millions lottery jackpot in the United States will become an instant billionaire.
A succession of rollovers has taken the jackpot prize into ten-figure territory, and given that Forbes Magazine has reported that there only 2,668 billionaires on earth, the winner will be in exclusive company indeed.
Nobody has matched the winning numbers in the Mega Millions draw since April 15, and the accumulated jackpot prize will be the fourth largest in American lottery history – assuming, that is, that somebody hits the five main numbers and the Mega Ball during the next drawing on Friday.
It will be the fourth time that a lottery jackpot on U.S. soil has passed the one billion mark, with Mega Millions responsible for two of those – $1.53 billion in October 2018 and $1.05 billion in January 2021 – and the Powerball draw topping the all-time charts with its $1.58 billion jackpot back in January 2016.
Mega Millions winners have two options when it comes to getting paid. If they want instant cash into their bank account, the jackpot on Friday will be around $602 million (around £498 million). Those who opt for annuity payments will get the full $1.02 billion spread across 30 years, which would equate to $33 million – or £27 million – a year.
Sadly, Mega Millions tickets can only be purchased by those on American soil, although foreigners passing through the country on holiday are allowed to get involved – 45 different states are legally allowed to sell tickets.
And Americans can also choose their lucky numbers online, although Marie Kilbane – the spokesperson for Mega Millions – revealed that their website froze on Tuesday evening with more than 62 million people trying to log on and buy a ticket.
The Best Boss in the World?
For many of us, the best gift we can hope for from our boss is a pay rise or extra holiday days.
But for the employees of Raising Cane, a fast food chain in the US, their manager may just have provided them with the best workplace-related perk around.
Todd Graves, the CEO of Raising Cane, has splashed out around $100,000 – that’s £83,000 – on 50,000 tickets for the Mega Millions draw….and he’s promised to share the spoils with his staff if one of those slips comes up with the winning numbers.
At worse, this is an expensive PR campaign that has seen his company make headlines around the globe. At best, his 50,000 or so employees will become around £13,000 richer….happily for Graves, that wouldn’t be considered by most to be retirement/resignation money.
The firm’s CEO has revealed to his Twitter followers the complexities of actually acquiring 50,000 lottery tickets from retailers.
Buying 50,000 lottery tickets is harder than you think! ? Hoping to share the winning jackpot with our 50,000 @RaisingCanes Crew. pic.twitter.com/hLlajBJwlH
— Todd Graves (@ToddGraves) July 25, 2022
“We couldn’t miss out on the chance to win the Mega Millions jackpot and share it with our crew who always stand together,” Graves said.