Santa came a little late, but gave one person a $1.22 billion Mega Millions jackpot as a stocking stuffer.
One ticket purchased in California matched all numbers in Friday’s drawing (3, 7, 37, 49, 55, and 6 Mega Ball) and won the top prize of an estimated $1.22 billion. did.
The winning ticket was sold at Sunshine Food and Gas in Cottonwood, a community of about 6,000 people south of Redding in Northern California, according to the state lottery website.
Mega Millions officials say the jackpot has been growing ever since the clock was reset on September 13, when someone in Texas won an $810 million jackpot. No ticket matched all six numbers revealed in the previous Christmas Eve drawing.
If no one wins the jackpot, it is rolled over and ticket sales contribute to increasing the top prize.
If the person purchasing the ticket lives in California, they can take home the maximum amount. The state is one of eight states where the state government does not tax lottery winnings.
Friday night’s win marks the fifth-most in game history. The fifth-largest jackpot, at $1.128 billion, was claimed on Monday, several months after the March 26 drawing.
Mega Millions officials said the winning ticket was purchased at a ShopRite in Neptune Township, New Jersey. The New Jersey winner has one year to make such a claim.
“It is common for large jackpot winners to take some time to claim,” Mega Millions officials said in a statement.
Mega Millions officials said the winner chose protection under New Jersey law on the condition of anonymity and the estimated cash value of the prize, excluding state and federal taxes, of $537.5 million.
Federal taxes on such amounts can be 37%. In New Jersey, the tax is 8%.
The Mega Millions jackpot will have four winners in 2024, with one Tuesday drawing remaining. Gaming officials said in a statement Saturday that this is shaping up to be the year with the fewest jackpot wins since the seven-state big game became Mega Millions in 2002.
Mega Millions, which is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, will produce 10 jackpots in 2023, the most since major changes were made to the game in 2013, officials said. It was announced on Monday.
A Florida player won the largest Mega Millions jackpot of $1.602 billion in August 2023. However, that amount could not surpass the same multi-state lottery game, Powerball’s highest jackpot of $2.04 billion, set in November 2022.
Michelle Acevedo and Alex Roe contributed.
