The Biggest Lottery Payouts

Are you curious about the biggest lottery payouts of all time? Then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve compiled this guide to the biggest jackpots ever and will tell you the life-changing amounts of cash people walked away with. We’ll discuss the biggest payouts from US lotteries and other parts of the world too.

Most of us have probably fantasized about winning the lottery at some point and even imagined what we’d spend the fortune on. Well, for these lucky ticket holders that dream quickly became a reality when they bought a ticket for a popular US lottery and became multimillionaires.

• The Most Popular Lotteries in the US
• Are Lottery Payouts Taxed in the US?
• World Record Payout on the Powerball
• Huge Jackpots on the Mega Millions
• Biggest Payouts Outside the US
• Conclusion

The Most Popular Lotteries in the US

The most popular lotteries for US players to participate in are the Mega Millions and the Powerball. These have also seen some of the biggest lotto payouts ever. There’s also a range of state lotteries, with some available to play online, depending on the particular lottery laws in your state.

State lotteries tend to have smaller cash prizes, and won’t produce the biggest lottery winner ever, but they do offer better chances of winning. These lotteries are only available to play within the specified state’s borders, and players can enjoy the lotto even through their mobile devices. The New Jersey lottery website even has a dedicated app for both Android and iOS. In contrast, multi-jurisdictional lotteries such as the Mega Millions can be played in multiple states.

Are Lottery Payouts Taxed in the US?

Lotto payouts for the big lotteries can reach the millions and occasionally billions. The Powerball has resulted in the biggest win in the whole world, but more on that later. Keep in mind that these huge amounts we will discuss are subject to federal taxes in the US.

This means that the amount you see is not the final figure the winner takes home, for instance the IRS withholds 24% of the winning. The winner of multi-jurisdictional lotteries also has the option of taking the full amount in cash or being paid in installments spread over years, which can impact the tax that’s due.

World Record Payout on the Powerball

The current world record for the biggest payout ever comes from the Powerball. A massive $2.04 billion was won on Nov. 8, 2022. The lucky winner was one ticketholder from California, and this is the largest lottery payout to one person. The odds of winning this jackpot were 1 in 292.2 million!

The Powerball is offered in 45 states, as well as in Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. It has existed since 1992 and involves picking five numbers correctly. When the November 2022 winning ticket was announced, tension was running high because technical issues caused a delay in announcing the result, likely due to the sheer number of tickets bought.

We still don’t know the identity of the winner as they haven’t yet come forward. Under California public disclosure law, lottery winners cannot remain anonymous and must come forward publicly to claim the winnings. All we know is that the winning ticket was purchased from Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, California.

Huge Jackpots on the Mega Millions

The Mega Millions is another popular lottery that began in 1996. You win the jackpot by matching all six numbers and the starting jackpot varies depending on sales. Winners have two options when it comes to collecting their winnings, there’s the annuity option – one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments or the one-time cash option.

On October 23, 2018, a new record was set – for only the second time ever, the jackpot passed the billion-dollar mark. There was just one winning ticket for the $ 1.537 billion jackpot, sold in South Carolina, and at the time it was the world’s largest lottery prize ever won on a single ticket. This record remained for more than four years.

Here are the top 5 Biggest Mega Millions payouts:

1. $1.537 bn – 1 Winning Ticket SC – 10/23/2018
2. $ 1.348 bn – 1 Winning Ticket ME – 1/13/2023
3. $1.337 bn – 1 Winning Ticket IL – 7/29/2022
4. $1.05bn – 1 Winning Ticket MI – 1/22/2021
5. $656 m – 3 Winning Tickets IL/KS/MD – 3/30/2012

Biggest Payouts Outside the US

Outside of the US, the rest of the world has seen some pretty big lottery payouts too. Over in Europe the EuroMillions jackpot is extremely popular and is played in nine European countries: Belgium, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. The first-ever EuroMillions draw took place in 2004.

There is a minimum guaranteed jackpot of €17 million (equivalent to roughly $18.5m), and this can roll over up to a huge €240 million! Players must select five numbers from one to 50, and two ‘Lucky Stars’ from one to 12. Unlike in some US states, winners get to choose to remain anonymous.

Here are the three biggest lottery payouts from the EuroMillions:

1. €230 Million in UK, July 2022

   A UK ticketholder scooped a record EuroMillions jackpot of €230/£195m in summer 2022. The one lucky ticket matched all seven numbers and made the person an overnight multimillionaire. They decided to remain anonymous.

2. €220 Million in France, October 2021

   This payout comes from France, however the winning ticket was actually purchased on the Pacific Island of Tahiti. As it is part of French Polynesia, tickets for the EuroMillions can be purchased there. The winner also remained anonymous.

3. €215 Million in UK, May 2022

   This winning ticket was bought by a couple from Gloucester in the UK, who eventually decided to go public. Joe and Jess Thwaite bagged the €215 million jackpot, at the time the biggest-ever win in the UK. At first, they carried on with their days as normal and continued going to work until the news sunk in.

Life-Changing Lottery Payouts

You’ve probably heard that a person is more likely to be hit by lightning than to win the lottery, but these lucky people beat the odds and walked away with millions, and in some cases, billions. We’re sure the record for the biggest lottery payouts will be smashed in the future, as the jackpots keep growing.

What would you spend the money on if you bagged the jackpot and joined the ranks of the biggest lottery winners in the USA? If reading about these winners has given you the desire to try your luck, it’s time to learn more about the top gambling sites in the US. Good luck!