Incredible facts
Every week millions of members strive to get tickets for various lotteries, which can bring a huge fortune.
Tickets for such lotto can be purchased in local stores or through online sites for little money. But you can win great amount bills, which attracts millions of people around the world.
Who are they - lottery winners who have already hit the jackpot? How do they spend the money they win? And in general: do these amounts bring happiness?
Winning by truck number
The first millionaire on our list is a 58-year-old Stephen Chika, whose winnings amounted to 1 million pounds. The lucky guy bought the lottery ticket in a supermarket, where he went shopping with his father in a personal truck (Stephen is a truck driver).
Moreover, he simply copied the lucky ticket number from your truck number.
The winning ticket brought 14 houses
Roy Gibney from England, the city of Grimsby, won 7.5 million pounds. With this money he bought 14 houses close to my hometown. He settled in the best mansion he bought himself, enjoying his own green terraces, a casino, a jacuzzi, a lake, gym, summer houses and a lake in which he fishes.
By order of a multimillionaire, they built huge chessboard where does he play ancient game with your friends. And nearby there is a swimming pool, at the bottom of which you can see big numbers his winning number.
Winnings spent on charity
However, the lady donated the lion's share of her winnings to various funds of charitable organizations, namely for good purposes she spent £26 million. Let's hope Margaret's kindness is appreciated.
An electrician won the lottery and went on a trip.
In 2014 Matt Miles Won the lottery at the age of 28 1 million pounds. Before that, he worked as an electrician, and after he became rich, he opened his own business with his brother. But first, Matt decided to have fun by traveling to Indonesia, Brazil and the USA.
The driver won money and spent it all on cars
And this is already Sharon Tirabassi - a single mother who lived in a small rented house and worked as a bus driver. But that was her life until Sharon won more $10.5 million.
After a woman became a millionaire, she had big house, several expensive cars, and she began to wear exclusively branded clothes. Parties became a regular occurrence in Sharon's house, and she fell in love with traveling.
Unfortunately, money is fast are over. Now the woman is again a bus driver and lives in a modest house. However, she managed to deposit undisclosed amounts into the accounts of her six children.
Winner's Greed
In 1993 Susan Mullins became the owner $4.2 million thanks to one of the lottery draws. However, this case was unprecedented in that the woman did not want to withdraw the entire amount at once, but took it in parts for several years.
Susan became so accustomed to the luxurious life that her needs increased and the money she was given became sorely insufficient. She lent large sums of money. When Susan's $4.2 million dried up, the bank she borrowed money from sued her by 154 million dollars!
Garbage Man's Big Win
Working as a garbage man Mike Carroll won the lotto in 2002 15 million dollars. Then Mike completely relaxed and immersed himself in the world of entertainment, expensive cars, dissolute life and cocaine. But, as you know, money loves counting. The lucky one had just enough wealth for 5 years.
Now Mike Carroll is back to work as a garbage man.
A real win that ruined a man
Billy Harrpel was a preacher of one of the churches and worked in hardware store. He asked God for a long time for good luck, and apparently his prayers were answered: Billy won the lotto $31 million.
With this fortune he bought several expensive houses and cars. However, because of money they started argue relatives are with him. As a result, the preacher went bankrupt and divorced his wife, after which committed suicide.
Divorce after winning
Lottery winnings Denise Rossi made up $1.3 million. Already at that time Denise and her husband were in bad relationship, and after a big win she decided to quickly get a divorce without telling her husband anything.
But the husband turned out to be “no mistake” and immediately suspected something. He spent two years collecting evidence that ex-wife He was deceived and sued.
At Denise Rossi's ex-husband sued All$1.3 million.
Believe me, there are such huge winnings in the lottery that the numbers just don’t fit in your mind. Another question is whether the data on winnings is true, whether fake persons received them, whether they received them at all, etc.
Such stories are needed, at a minimum, so that people continue to buy lottery tickets, feeding the founders of the business.
Today we will talk about the biggest lottery winnings.
Just recently I heard on TV that a Russian family (mother and adult daughter) won 500 million rubles in the lottery, they were photographed for the media, smiling (we are talking about the November 2017 win, Voronezh). And evil commentators echoed - “they are stupid, they will be found and robbed, it’s obvious that they are from the village,” “the ex-husband will now find out about the situation that has befallen his head and will supposedly come to restore the family, new relatives will appear.”
But I had other thoughts: “well, a person can’t win 500 million rubles in our country... and he can’t win abroad either... especially a billion dollars. And if anyone got such a prize, then they were probably “dummy people,” but they look too simple to be dummies.”
Do you believe that a person on the street who buys a random lottery ticket can win huge sums of money, hit the jackpot, as they say?
We see many stories on TV where mere mortals have won lotteries; neighbors give interviews, confirming that these same “Petya and Vasya, Masha and Sasha” from the first floor, always unemployed and cheerful, won a couple of million rubles. And no one expected it, but it got lucky. Usually, no one tells us, the viewers, where the newly-made millionaires spent their money, or they provide meager information... However, about several families, especially those who squandered great wealth to nowhere, few details are known. For example, about the family of Nadezhda Mukhametzyanova.
But this is all on the screen, but have you personally had examples when your neighbors “hit the Jackpot”?? I have no. Except that I myself have won several thousand rubles in competitions a couple of times, but this is not a lottery. Among my friends, including those who actively buy lottery tickets, there is not a single one who has won. I don’t know whether it’s true or fiction that it’s possible to win, but a person, especially a Russian, will always hope for chance and luck more than anything else.
Let's talk about the largest lottery winnings among Russians.
Yuri Ivanov from Tolyatti won about 1 million rubles. As the hero says, he has been buying tickets regularly for 23 years, and he dreamed of the winning ticket numbers in a dream. What a story that is quite capable of cheering up those who have spent several salaries on lottery tickets and half their lives waiting for a prize - wait, perhaps there is still more to come!
A resident of the village of Vargashi, Kurgan region, won 1 million rubles, and became the luckiest villager who hit the jackpot in lotteries, because before that, residents of the outback had not received more than 200 thousand rubles.
Alexander Osterenko from Samara region won 2.5 million rubles in 2011.
A Russian Railways passenger once won 11 million rubles on a passenger ticket, they searched for him for two weeks. Yes, according to the media, this is possible - winning a multimillion-dollar sum just by buying a Russian Railways ticket. A little later, another lucky person from Russian Railways won 8 million rubles.
On December 30, 2001, Nadezhda Mukhametzyanova, with her husband and children, won 29 million rubles in the Bingo Show. At the same time, as sources say, the spouses bought two apartments and two cars with the winnings, but they spent a lot of money on drinking and slot machines. The cars broke down after accidents, the apartment burned down in a fire, the wife died a few years later from a trophic ulcer, and the husband lives unsociable in the second apartment with his sons.
In 2009, Moscow resident Evgeny Sidorov won 35 million rubles in the Gosloto lottery. The man spent his winnings very wisely: he left with his family for his homeland, in the Lipetsk region, and organized his own farm and production for breeding carp.
100 million rubles went to Albert Begrakyan from St. Petersburg in 2009 (“Gosloto 6 out of 45”), Of these, the lucky one built a hotel for 16.5 million rubles, bought real estate, a car, and helped his relatives.
In 2015, a resident of Kaliningrad won 126.9 million rubles in the mobile phone lottery.
In 2014 (“Gosloto 6 out of 45”) Omsk resident Valery T won 184 million rubles. His lottery bet was 810 rubles.
In the same 2014, a certain Mikhail from N. Novgorod won 200 million rubles.
In 2016, a resident of Novosibirsk hit the jackpot in the Gosloto lottery with as much as 358 million rubles, The lucky guy kept his name secret.
At the end of autumn 2017, a pensioner from Voronezh won 506 million rubles in the Stoloto lottery(although earlier they said it was a man). And this is the most big win to the lottery in Russia. People comment on this event in different ways, and that now the grandmother will have to hide, otherwise, out of stupidity, she appeared on TV, that they will be persecuted, and others write:
“Don’t worry, no one will hide anywhere, because there was no woman from Voronezh who won 500 million rubles. This lottery is promoting itself so that fools1 buy tickets more actively. Do you really think that an ordinary person can win 500 million rubles?”
“They found a grandmother from a remote Siberian village, gave her 50 thousand or whatever she needed, called her by a different name and now, buy our tickets to NG, what kind of PR we did for ourselves throughout the country, how sales will increase2.
“Yes, there is no 500 million. And this grandmother was paid 20 thousand. For this number on TV. Now she sits in the village of Glukharevo and no one will find her....”
There were several well-known cases when big winnings(26 million rubles) were not given to the Russians, for example, one person has been trying to get his winnings released for several years to no avail.
And now about the biggest lottery winnings in the world.
In 2000, the American received $363 million.
In 2002, a West Virginian ripped off D jackpot of $314.9 million.
Colombian Juan Rodriguez, who worked as a watchman, won $149 million in 2004.
In 2004, a US citizen won $209 million.
In 2005, the American won $340 million.
In 2006, the American won $230 million.
In 2006, again in America, the winnings were $365 million.
In 2008, an 84-year-old Missouri retiree won $254 million.
In 2007, Mega Millions gave away $390 million.
In 2013, three US residents won $488 million, the prize was divided among three.
In 2014, a California retiree hit a $425 million jackpot.
In 2012, two US residents won $587 million each, the prize was divided in half.
A Florda resident won $590 million in 2013. At that time, such a jackpot became a record.
In 2012, Mega Millions gave away as much as $640 million!! The prize was shared by two lucky winners.
Well, now it’s an unrealistic amount!! And to be honest, I don’t believe that it went to ordinary people.
In 2016, the world's largest winnings occurred in the Powerball lottery - $1 billion 586 million, which went to three lucky ones, half a billion dollars each.
So far the records for the world and for Russia are as follows: in Russia the biggest win was 500 million, in the world 1.5 billion dollars for three.
In Russia, only 1% of the population plays lotteries, while for example in France, the USA, 65-70% of the population plays.
Is it true. That's how long I don't go to the post office - half the line is buying lottery tickets. I can’t imagine how things are going in France then, if there are 70 times more lottery fans there than here.
One of the problems with quick wins is that they are ephemeral. Gifts of fate, “freebies” disappear as quickly as they appear. And the millions that have fallen on our heads sometimes bring more troubles than joy. For example, a person who did not know the value of earning money does not know how to behave with it, he begins to spend everything chaotically or is afraid of it. Families break up, people become greedy and evil. But of course, good examples There is. When people used their winnings in a profitable business, but for this it was necessary that the person initially had business experience and knew how to earn money. And everyone who lived by drinking and partying - they spent it all on them...
« A person has a material threshold: the amount of money that he is used to managing. It is installed subconsciously. As a rule, income increases gradually: the salary is increased - the psyche has adapted to the increase. And when a huge sum falls from the sky, it is too much work for the body. A person simply does not know how to manage that kind of money. Doesn't know what to do with them. It becomes a burden rather than a joy.
Plus, distant relatives and old acquaintances begin to show up. This is additional stress. And here mechanisms that are not subject to consciousness come into play. You're just trying your best to get rid of money. That is why such winnings often simply go down the drain. Or even worse - they get drunk very quickly. This makes it easier. It is almost impossible to cope with such stress on your own. It’s better to seek help from professional psychologists.”
Of course, I would like to say - someone is lucky, I wish it were like that, at least a couple of million just like that!!! But as the sage said, it is better to teach a person to fish than to give it to him... Those who do not know how to catch will eat and be hungry again, and those who know how to catch will always be full.
Excerpt from an old man's dialogue Soviet film, when a Sportloto ticket cost 60 kopecks, and the maximum winnings were 20 thousand rubles:
“Win or win, what difference does it make? Not in this case! And the fact is that for 60 kopecks I have hope of winning 10 or 20 thousand rubles!!!”
Lottery is one of the most popular gambling, in which it is possible to win a large sum money and expensive clothing prizes. The conduct of lotteries in Russia is regulated at the legislative level, so participants can count on the honesty of accredited organizers.
Below you will find tips on choosing the type of lottery, ways to increase your chances of winning, a list of popular Russian lotteries, as well as a rating of the biggest winnings.
Which type of lottery is better to choose?
Lotteries may differ in how they are conducted. Based on this feature, there are two types:
- Draw lottery- the prize fund is drawn between all participants, and the game is played at a time after the sale of lottery tickets for certain date and time. According to Russian legislation, during the drawing, only one piece of equipment is allowed to be used to determine the winning combination of numbers or symbols - in order to avoid fraud.
- No-draw lottery(instant) - information for determining winnings is included in tickets at the time of their creation. You can find out the result immediately after purchasing a game card by erasing the protective coating under which the hidden symbols are located. Their combination determines the absence or presence of winnings, as well as its size.
When choosing a type, you should consider some features:
- In lotteries, the prize pool is often larger. As a rule, the participant has the opportunity to independently choose the combination that, in his opinion, will be winning. In this case, you will have to wait for the drawing to take place.
- In non-draw lotteries, the winnings are smaller, but, according to statistics, people win them more often. Another advantage is that the result can be found out instantly.
Which lottery is the fairest in Russia?
According to the law, only state lotteries are legal on the territory of Russia - their implementation is regulated by a decision of the Government. Participants can rely on the fairness of the lotteries presented below.
Gosloto 6 out of 45
“Gosloto 6 out of 45” is a popular lottery in which you can actually win a big cash prize. Draws are held daily at 11:00 and 23:00 Moscow time.
On the ticket, the participant must mark at least 6 numbers in the range from 1 to 45. The minimum cost of a game card is 100 rubles (6 selected numbers, one combination). Participants can place “multi-bet” to increase their chance of winning. For example, a card with 13 numbers marked on it will be a winner with 1716 possible combinations. However, in this case, the ticket will cost 171,600 rubles.
All participants who guessed 2 numbers receive 100 rubles. The remaining prize fund is distributed in percentage between those who have the same:
- 3 numbers - 18%;
- 4 - 8%;
- 5 - 16%;
- 6 - 58%.
A super prize is awarded for 6 numbers guessed. His minimum size in “Gosloto 6 out of 45” - 10 million rubles.
Housing lottery
In the Housing Lottery, in addition to cash prizes, apartments and country houses are raffled off. Ticket price is 100 rubles. The super prize accumulates from circulation to circulation, its minimum size is 3 million.
Bingo-75
“Bingo-75” is a lottery where each ticket gives three chances to win, which could be a multimillion-dollar jackpot. Draws take place weekly on Sundays at 1:30 p.m.
Combinations in tickets, the cost of which is 100 rubles, are formed automatically - the participant does not choose anything. The card contains 24 numbers, the range is 1-75. The circulation consists of 72 moves and several rounds. To receive the minimum winnings (300 rubles) and participate in the further drawing of cash prizes, you need to match the 4 numbers located in the corners of the game card on the ticket before the 28th move.
The minimum super prize is 10 million. The jackpot goes to the participant whose all numbers in the playing field match those drawn in the drawing up to and including the 46th move. For a win from 47 to 55 moves you get 50,000 rubles, from 56 to 72 - 100 rubles.
Russian lotto
“Russian Lotto” is one of the most popular and fair lotteries in Russia, which has been running since 1994. The scheme is similar to “ Housing lottery» - the range of numbers on game cards is from 1 to 90 (two fields, combinations are generated automatically by the system).
The most big wins The winners of the first rounds of the Russian Lotto receive - from several tens of thousands to several million rubles. In addition, apartments, cars, vouchers and other material prizes are regularly drawn in the lottery.
Draws are broadcast on Sundays at 14:00 on the NTV channel. Ticket price is 100 rubles. The minimum jackpot amount is not set - it constantly changes and accumulates from draw to draw.
You can win this fair lottery without guessing a single number. Draws take place every 15 minutes, so KENO-Sportloto is suitable for those who do not want to wait a long time for the draw. Ticket price is 50 rubles.
The participant needs to choose 1-10 numbers in the range from 1 to 80. The lottery has 42 winning categories with a fixed reward amount. In 4 cases you can get 50 rubles without guessing a single number.
Also, in a separate KENO-Sportloto round, a super prize (from 10 million rubles) is drawn according to the participant’s ticket number.
How to increase your chances of winning?
There is no technique that is guaranteed to lead to winning the lottery, since the draw is always based on chance. However, you can take advice from experienced players to increase your chance of winning:
- one of the most popular winning strategies is to constantly bet on the same combination;
- the most obvious and effective advice: more tickets - more probability, the main thing is not to go beyond your budget;
- It is not recommended to choose numbers that appear sequentially - the probability of such combinations appearing is extremely low;
- It’s better to choose one lottery and regularly participate in it than to try to win several at once;
- you should not mark only even numbers or only odd numbers on the ticket;
- according to statistics, the sum of the numbers winning combinations in most cases falls in the range of 104-176.
Let's sum it up
Russian players can fully trust state lotteries. The biggest prize funds are played in lotteries. To increase your chances of winning, it is recommended to stick to one strategy (for example, constantly bet on the same combination). IN last years The largest winnings were received several times by the winners of Gosloto 6 out of 45.
Who hasn’t at least once thought of buying a lottery ticket and trying their luck, especially in the context of the ongoing financial crisis? A couple of extra millions could easily solve money problems and be a ticket to happy life for anyone ordinary person. But Fortune is an unpredictable and capricious goddess. Not everyone is lucky: someone buys tickets often, but never wins. And some people get millions on the first try. Who are the lucky ones who are lucky enough to win the biggest sums?
Jack Whittaker
This man is the owner of the largest US lottery winnings in history - a whopping $315 million. Moreover, Whittaker was far from the poorest man - at the time of such a joyful event, he served as president of one of the large construction corporations. However, the day he purchased the ticket did not make Whittaker any happier. Jack decided to take the winnings not in parts, but all at once. After deducting taxes, he was left with an amount almost three times less than the initial winnings - only $113.4 million.
As befits a good Christian, Whittaker donated ten percent of this amount to a charitable foundation. religious organizations. He also gave the lucky ticket seller a car and a house.
But that's it white stripe in Whittaker's life came to an end. Jack has been arrested several times for driving while intoxicated. In the summer of 2003, thieves broke into his car and stole almost half a million dollars. In January 2004, he was robbed again for $200,000. And in the same year, Whittaker was arrested - the reason was threats to kill the manager in a bar where he was a regular and a drinker.
And the last straw was another robbery - now Whittaker's bank accounts were already damaged. In September 2006, robbers used forged checks to clean out all of the former lucky guy's bank accounts. This was the sad end to the biggest lottery win ever.
Brad Duke is a smart winner
But there is an opposite story - and this is the win of Brad Duke, who worked as a manager at Ohio State. He approached the money received much more rationally. The amount of $85 million, which was one of the largest winnings in the lottery, was divided into several parts. Duke invested 45 million in securities of those companies where the risk of loss was minimal and the profit was highest. I decided to invest another 35 million in companies with high risks, however big income- oil and gas corporations. With the 5 million that were left, Duke went with friends to Hawaii, paid for his studies and a loan for housing.
Win by Juan Rodriguez
Another of the biggest lottery wins went to a Colombian named Juan Rodriguez. The amount was no less than $149 million.
Rodriguez worked as a watchman, and the constant lack of money was the reason for incessant scandals with his wife. At the time when poor Juan had only one dollar left in his pocket, the amount of his debts was already about 44 thousand dollars. It was then that he decided to try his luck and buy a lottery ticket. However, this story was overshadowed only by the fact that ten days after winning, Juan’s wife filed for divorce. In court, his ex-wife said he “could have won more.”
Generous Vietnamese
The largest lottery win in the world, going to the oldest winner, was $310,000. This amount went to a 97-year-old man from Vietnam named Nguyen Van Het. He spent almost his entire adult life in poverty. No one expected the old peasant to decide to play the lottery.
He purchased a lucky lottery ticket with money given to him by his relatives. Immediately after the news of the win became known, neighbors began to gather around his house. The old man was so happy that he started giving money to everyone. To prevent him from being completely left without money, the authorities had to intervene.
Retired from South Carolina
Another of the biggest lottery wins of all time went to South Carolina resident Solomon Jackson. He won $260 million in a lottery called Powerball. The pensioner decided not to publicize his plans for the future. All that is known about the winner is that he worked as an employee all his life and retired in 2000. The amount that Jackson won was the largest lottery win in the history of Powerball. Happy ticket the pensioner purchased it for only $2 at a gas station.
The Story of Ralph and Mary Stabbnis
This story is one of the grim examples where monetary luck is followed by a streak of serious misfortune. The couple became the winners of the American lottery called Mega Millions in 2005. It was one of the company's largest lottery winnings ever, at $208 million. The couple chose to first take the smaller portion, which was allowed by the lottery rules - 125 million. The remaining amount was to be paid to them over several decades. The Stabbnises planned to pay off their debts, purchase a farm, invest the money they won in maintaining and breeding cows, and live the lifestyle of ordinary provincials for the rest of their days.
Mary and Ralph lived together for 23 years and had three children. Both of them immediately left their previous jobs after winning - Ralph was an ordinary worker in a mining company, and Mary received about $7 an hour working as a saleswoman. However, the win did not make the couple happy. In the fall of 2006, Ralph Stabbnis was accused of attempting to kill his daughter's friend, as well as possessing a weapon. Less than two months later he died of a heart attack.
Lucky combination
Another Mega Millions jackpot was not so unfortunate. It was divided between two winners - a Washington resident named Jim McCular and a resident of the state of Ihad who wished to remain anonymous. $380 million was the largest lottery win in the world in 2011. What numbers did these lucky ones get? It was a sequence of numbers 4, 8, 15, 25, 47 and 42. Residents of the United States noticed that this series was repeated several times in episodes of the TV series Lost. According to the plot, they also brought the hero of the series named Hurley luck in the lottery.
The story of a poor waitress
However, most often lottery winnings brings misfortune to its owner. This was the case with a Las Vegas waitress named Cynthia Jay. She decided to go to the casino after work. She didn’t intend to leave a lot of money in the machines - she only had $27 in her hands. Cynthia decided to play a lottery called the One-Armed Bandit. Gradually she lost one dollar after another and was about to leave. Suddenly, a loud sound was heard throughout the casino, notifying all visitors that they had won the jackpot.
The amount that Cynthia managed to win was about $35 million. It would take her 1,165 years to earn this money as a waitress. However, the luck did not last long. Less than a few months after winning, Cynthia was involved in a serious car accident. The poor girl found herself in wheelchair. She later stated that she would give all the money just to go and work as a waitress again.
Lotteries in the USSR
IN Soviet time lotteries did not bring such misfortunes. Perhaps this was because they did not win astronomical sums - lotteries were created mainly to develop the economy. One of the most popular lotteries of the past was the Sprint lottery (USSR). The biggest win then was 10 thousand rubles. In the first four days after the launch of the lottery, 2 million tickets were sold. Their cost was 50 kopecks. or 1 ruble. It was also possible to win a Volga car, which was of much more interest to Soviet lottery fans.
Also during the Soviet era, sports lotteries were very popular - “Sportloto”, “Sportprognoz”. It is believed that these drawings were the first type of bookmaking in the vastness of the USSR. The prizes that buyers of lottery tickets received were often scarce goods - televisions, refrigerators, washing and sewing machines.
In the USA, the largest jackpot in the world was won in the popular Powerball lottery - the amount was $1.5 billion! The name of the winner is not yet known, but official representatives of the lottery organizers reported that winning ticket was purchased in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California.
The lottery is held in 44 states across the country, and winning Powerball is always a sensation. The coveted prize goes to the one who correctly indicates the numbers of five white balls and one red, which is called Powerball.
In the meantime, while the name of the lucky winner is being revealed, let's look at other darlings of fortune who won the largest Powerball lottery jackpots, find out how much money they won and what they spent it on.
(Total 12 photos)
In 2014, 75-year-old Emma Duvall won $2 million. She chose numbers that she found in a fortune cookie in a New York store.
A 19-year-old construction worker named Jonathan Vargas won $35 million in 2008. Jonathan chose the numbers using his family's birth dates and ages. He later created the women's wrestling channel Wrestlicious.
In 2001, ex-con David Edwards (who was convicted of armed robbery) won $41 million. David bought a mansion in Florida and a private jet. In just five years, he spent all his winnings and died at the age of 58 in a hospice.
In 2009, 27-year-old Jeffrey Wilson won $88 million. Jeffrey says that after winning, little has changed in his life, except that he began to live in a bigger house. He donated part of the money to a children's hospital.
In 2005, 34-year-old Brad Duke won $220 million. However, after winning, Brad continued to drive his old car and work for another two and a half years. The fitness center instructor used his money wisely - he hired a team of financial advisors and invested his winnings.
In 2009, retired government employee Solomon Jackson won $259 million. Mr. Jackson gave generous sums of money to a variety of educational causes, including Morris College, from which he graduated.
The Hill family won $293 million. A modest and pious family plans to spend money on the education of their children (three sons and one foster girl), grandchildren and nephews.
In 2002, the contracting firm's 55-year-old president, Andrew Whittaker, won $314 million. Andrew donated 10% of his winnings to Christian causes charitable organizations, he spent another 14 million to open a fund to help families in need in West Virginia. Unfortunately, life after winning did not work out for the former businessman - he was persecuted by people who wanted to cash in on his luck, and two daughters died of drug overdoses.
In 2013, Pedro Quezada from New Jersey won $338 million. The former store owner used part of his winnings to pay alimony to his family.
ConAgra Foods employees won $365 million. The lucky ones managed their money in different ways - some built a house in Vietnam, some quit their jobs and live on the interest from their investments, some simply enjoy life and do what they love, and two of the winners even got married.
In 2013, 16 employees of the company engaged in technical maintenance cars, shared the winnings of $448 million. The reaction of the winners was different - some were incredibly happy about the money, especially after the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, and some expressed dissatisfaction due to the increased attention from the media.
In 2013, 84-year-old Gloria McKenzie of Florida, a retired teacher, won $590 million. We can say that it was the will of fate: the elderly woman was missed in the queue for lottery tickets and she bought a ticket with the numbers already selected.