Featured Image Credit: FOX 11 Los Angeles
Topics: National Lottery
Emma Guinness
Most of us have fantasised about winning the lottery, but just imagine winning a jackpot without even buying a ticket?
Well, this is the incredible reality of one shop owner, whose store sold the staggering winning $2.04 billion Powerball Jackpot ticket in California.
The jackpot, as you can probably guess, was a record-breaking one and is not only the largest sum won from this particular draw, but the largest win in California lottery history.
As reported by Fox11, while four people have won more than $1 billion in the lottery before, no one has ever won such a staggering amount of cash.
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The huge sum began accumulating back in August of last year, beginning with a pot of $20 million that kept on growing after a number of winless months until the pot was finally scooped in November.
The currently anonymous winner won the life-changing sum after buying a ticket at Joe's Service Center in Altadena, Los Angeles.
This now-historic store is owned by Joseph Chahayed, who was also rewarded a retail selling bonus of $1 million for the role he played in facilitating the record-breaking win.
"I would like to thank all the community (who) support me," the shop owner of more than 20 years said. "And I would... I encourage you to buy a ticket from this station... You're going to be a winner too."
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Explaining what he plans to do with the money, he said: "I will share it with the family ... with my kids, my grandchildren. I have 11 grandchildren, and I have to share with them."
The shop owner's son, Danny, said he can't think of anyone more deserving of an unexpected windfall than his dad.
"There's no one else who deserves it more than this man," he said. "He's worked hard his whole life. He deserves every bit of it."
The Multi-State Lottery Association said that the odds of matching all five numbers and the winning Powerball are 1 in 292.2 million.
The winner of the jackpot remained anonymous in the immediate aftermath of the win, but they are finally set to do so today (14 February).
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The California Lottery announced on Twitter: "We will show #CaliforniaEducation a whole lot of LOVE on #ValentinesDay when we unveil the sole winner of the record-breaking $2.04 billion #Powerball #jackpot from November."
While the overall jackpot was $2.04 billion, because it was won with a single ticket, the currently unidentified owner will receive $1.9 billion.
They have the option to receive the money in instalments or they can have a lump sum of $997.6 million.