The inevitable has finally happened! On October 12, 2023, a single ticket sold in California, United States, won the runaway Powerball jackpot. This was after the lucky player matched all six numbers in the Wednesday draw to win the $1.765 billion jackpot. The jackpot has a cash value of $774.1 million.
According to Powerball, the Wednesday, October 11 drawing produced the following set of white balls: 22, 24, 40, 52, and 64. The red Powerball was 10, whereas the Power Play multiplier was 2x.
Interestingly, the company said the final tally of ticket sales surpassed the advertised estimate, resulting in a jackpot of $1.765 billion at the time of the drawing. This prize is the second-largest in the history of playing lottery games in the United States. It’s surpassed only by the world record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot won in California on November 7, 2022.
Drew Svitko, Product Group Chair at Powerball and Executive Director for the Pennsylvania Lottery, congratulated the winner by saying:
“Congratulations to the newest Powerball billionaire and the millions of Powerball players who won other cash prizes in last night’s drawing. For 31 years, some players who have dreamed about winning a Powerball jackpot have defied the odds, and in doing so, have helped generate critical funding for public services and programs supported by U.S. lotteries.
“If you bought a Powerball ticket during this jackpot run, please know that a portion of that ticket will stay in your home state to make it a better place to live.”
The fortunate lottery winner can take an annuity prize of $1.765 billion or a one-time payout of $774.1 million, both before tax deductions. If the anonymous player chooses the annuity option, they will receive the prize for 30 years, increasing by 5% annually.
As expected, the lottery operator reminded participants across the United States to double-check their tickets for one of the nine potential prizes. The Wednesday night draw resulted in over 5.3 million winning tickets nationwide, with seven tickets from California, Florida, New York, Oklahoma, and Virginia matching all five white balls to win a $2 million prize.
This is the second time in a row the Powerball grand prize has reached the billion-dollar mark. In July this year, a player from California matched all six numbers to win the $1.08 billion jackpot prize.
