Powerball Ticket Sold in Michigan Wins $842 Million

A Powerball lottery ticket sold outside Flint, Michigan, won $842.2 million Monday, the 10th-largest jackpot in U.S. history.

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, nine jackpots in the U.S. have surpassed $1 billion since 2016 — including four in 2023 alone.

In January 2023, a single ticket-holder in Maine won the fourth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history, a Mega Millions jackpot worth $1.35 billion. Over the summer, two separate tickets won billion-dollar jackpots: in California, on July 19, when a Powerball ticket won $1.08 billion, and then in Florida, on Aug. 9, when a single ticket won a Mega Millions jackpot of $1.58 billion.

And in October, a single Powerball ticket sold in California won $1.765 billion, making it the second-largest U.S. lottery 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 Nov. 7, 2022. The ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California, just north of Pasadena.

On Feb. 14, California Lottery officials revealed the name of the winner, Edwin Castro, but did not release further information about him at his request.

2. $1.765 Billion

A single Powerball ticket sold in California won the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot in October. Taken as a cash payout instead of an annuity, it would be worth $774.1 million before taxes. So far, a winner hasn’t come forward.

The California Lottery said the winning ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, a rural town about 70 miles north of Los Angeles.

3. $1.59 Billion

The third-biggest jackpot, also a Powerball, was split three ways. The winning numbers were drawn Jan. 13, 2016, matching tickets bought in Chino Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles; Munford, Tennessee, north of Memphis; and Melbourne Beach, Florida, on the Atlantic coast.

“I think we can all live on $528 million, don’t you think?” Russ Lopez, a spokesperson for the California Lottery, said at the time.

4. $1.58 Billion

This was the Mega Millions jackpot that was won Aug. 9.

In late December, 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.

5. $1.54 Billion

A single ticket sold in Simpsonville, South Carolina, won a Mega Millions jackpot 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.

6. $1.35 Billion

A single ticket sold in Lebanon, Maine, won an estimated $1.35 billion in the Mega Millions drawing 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.

7. $1.34 Billion

The winning Mega Millions ticket July 29, 2022, was sold in Des Plaines, Illinois. 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.

8. $1.08 Billion

After three months without a winner, a single ticket sold in Los Angeles won the Powerball jackpot July 19, 2023. The winner has not yet come forward.

It was the second time in eight months that a winning ticket for a jackpot of more than $1 billion was sold in Los Angeles County.

The winner could opt to take the payment as a lump sum, which would be about $558.1 million before taxes, according to Powerball.

9. $1.05 Billion

A group identified as the Wolverine FLL Club of Oakland County won just over $1 billion in the Mega Millions drawing Jan. 22, 2021, after buying a ticket in Novi, Michigan.

10. $842.4 Million

A winning ticket for the Powerball drawing on New Year’s Day was sold in Grand Blanc, Michigan, the Michigan Lottery said. It was the second-largest jackpot ever won in Michigan, after the $1.05 billion drawing in 2021. The 2024 winner had not yet contacted the lottery, the organization said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.