One lucky California Lottery player has matched all six Powerball numbers to win a jackpot worth $1.08 billion, the third largest Powerball jackpot and sixth largest US lottery jackpot ever won.
A single ticket sold in California matched all six numbers drawn Wednesday night, as final ticket sales pushed the jackpot beyond its earlier estimate of $1 billion to $1.08 billion.
The lucky ticket holder will have the choice between an annuity prize of $1.08 billion or a lump sum payment of $558.1 million. Both prize options are before taxes.
If the winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5 per cent each year.
The ticket was sold at Las Palmitas Mini Market in downtown Los Angeles, a store that now receives a bonus of $1 million from the California Lottery.
The winner has up to a year from the date of the draw to come forward to claim the prize.
“Congratulations to our newest Powerball jackpot winner and the California Lottery” said Drew Svitko, Powerball product group chair and Pennsylvania Lottery executive director. “For more than 30 years, Powerball has brought people together to dream big and win big, and in doing so, has raised billions of dollars for good causes supported by lotteries.
“A portion of every Powerball ticket sold during this jackpot run will go toward furthering that legacy of supporting public programs and services in your community.”
The Powerball jackpot eluded players for three months, before it was finally hit on the 39th drawing of the jackpot run.
Other top-winning tickets in the Powerball drawing on Wednesday include 36 tickets that matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes. Three tickets matched all five white balls and won $2 million prizes by including the Power Play option for an additional $1 per play.
There were also 195 tickets that won $50,000 prizes, and 62 tickets that won $100,000 prizes.
Other Powerball jackpots won this year include a $754.6 million jackpot won in Washington on 5 January; a $162.6 million jackpot won in Virginia on 4 March; and a $252.6 million jackpot won in Ohio on 19 April.
Powerball holds the current world record for largest national lottery jackpot at $2.04 billion.
The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9, while the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.