Mega Millions jackpot exceeds $600 million

Topline

The Mega Millions jackpot climbed to an estimated $619 million, the 10th largest in its history, after no winning tickets were drawn on Friday evening, while one lucky winner – at odds of one in 302 million – took home less than a third of this amount after paying the required taxes.

Important facts

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What you should pay attention to

The next Mega Millions jackpot drawing will take place on Tuesday evening. Powerball will hold its next drawing on Saturday evening with a jackpot of $260 million. This grand prize includes a lump sum payment option of $125.5 million, which would be reduced to $95.3 million after a mandatory 24% tax withholding or to $79 million at a federal marginal tax rate of up to 37% .

Surprising fact

The jackpot is the 10th largest in Mega Millions history. The fifth-largest ($1.1 billion) and seventh-largest ($810 million) were drawn in March and September, respectively, this year.

Big number

1 million. That’s how many non-jackpot winning tickets were drawn Friday night, including four that won $20,000 in prizes. In the current jackpot’s 25 drawings, more than 15.3 million tickets were sold and 38 of them won prizes worth $1 million.

Important background

A Mega Millions ticket holder from Texas won an $800 million jackpot, the second-largest prize this year after a ticket holder in New Jersey won $1.1 billion in March. Mega Millions announced in October that it would update its lottery to offer players “bigger jackpots, better odds” and new rewards. New changes include removing one of the “Megaballs” from the draw, improving the odds of winning from one in 25 to one in 24 starting with a larger jackpot, introducing a “random” multiplier for non-jackpot prizes and none Break -Even prizes, meaning if a player hits a “Megaball” they win at least $10.

Further reading

ForbesMega Millions ticket holders in Texas win a jackpot of $800 million – that’s how much they’ll take home after taxesFrom Siladitya Ray
ForbesBillion dollar mega million jackpot cracked in New Jersey – this is what the winner takes home after taxesFrom Siladitya Ray