‘Unknown’ wins historic lottery in America

The Mega Millions jackpot ticket, worth $1.337 billion, has been sold in the state of Illinois, US lottery organizers said on Saturday. This is the second largest lottery prize in US history.
“Congratulations to the Illinois Lottery on the sale of the $1.28 billion jackpot ticket,” Ohio Lottery Director Pat MacDonald said in a statement.
The ticket was sold at a Speedway fuel and goods store in Displeas, Illinois. The ticket price is only two dollars. Upon entering the draw on Friday, the prize was estimated at $1.28 billion, but it swelled as more participants entered to try their luck until it reached $1.337 billion.
This is the second largest jackpot in the lottery’s twenty-year history. The largest prize, worth $1.537 billion, was the winner of the state of South Carolina in October 2018.
The latest Mega Millions jackpot draw took place in 45 states, Washington DC and the US Virgin Islands.
The identity of the grand prize winner has not yet been revealed. The Mega Millions website said that the winner will have two options, either to receive the amount in one go, or to receive the prize in annual payments over a period of 30 years. Most of the winners choose to get the amount in one go, in which case a huge tax bill will be deducted from it.
Half of the proceeds from the sale of each Mega Millions ticket remain in the state in which the ticket was sold, with funds supporting lottery recipients such as education, government employee pensions and retailer commissions.
Source: agencies