From CBS.com
One winning ticket was sold for the record Mega Millions jackpot of what turned out to be just under $1.6 billion. The winning ticket was purchased in South Carolina.
The six winning numbers were drawn Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, lottery officials said in a statement that the jackpot was worth $1.537 billion, more than $50 million less than the previously estimated jackpot of $1.6 billion.
South Carolina Education Lottery spokesperson Holli Armstrong told CBS News officials aren’t releasing the address yet of the outlet that sold the winner — or even the city or county. She cited “security procedures.”
Armstrong said it was the state’s first Mega Millions jackpot win. Its previous lottery record haul was a $399 million Powerball jackpot.
South Carolina lottery officials also said that the holder or holders of the winning ticket has 180 days to claim the prize and can stay anonymous. The retailer where the ticket was sold gets a $50,000 cut once the prize is claimed.
Tickets had to match all five white balls from Tuesday night as well as the yellow Mega Ball to claim the jackpot.
In addition to the grand prize winner, the Mega Millions website says 36 tickets matched the five white balls to claim $1 million apiece. They were bought in 17 states and the District of Columbia. The Texas winner and one in Florida included the optional Megaplier, so those two tickets are worth $3 million each.
Tuesday’s Millions winning numbers
- 5, 28, 62, 65, 70 and Mega Ball 5
- Megaplier 3x
The jackpot’s cash value was $878 million, an option favored by most winners. Otherwise, the jackpot is doled out over 29 years.
If no one had matched Tuesday’s numbers, officials say the next drawing would have been for an estimated $2 billion jackpot.
It will be held Friday night but for an estimated $40 million jackpot.
The Mega Millions jackpot had been soaring since July, when a group of office workers in California won $543 million.
Mega Millions has more than 302 million possible number combinations. Lottery officials had expected to sell 75 percent of them by Tuesday night’s drawing, when Mega Millions host John Crow announced the winning numbers.
“A million dollars is life changing. But a billion dollars is extraordinary,” Crow told CBS News. “So that excitement, that enthusiasm that is generating right now is what’s great about this jackpot.”
