Details scarce as 2nd winner in Arizona claims record Powerball prize

Updated 9:27 PM ET

PHOENIX The second winner in last week's record $577.5 million Powerball jackpot is an intelligent and financially-savvy married professional in his 30s who wants to help his community, Arizona Lottery officials announced.

The winner, who opted to take the cash option of $192 million, declined to take part in a news conference scheduled for Friday afternoon in Phoenix and wasn't going to be immediately identified, the lottery said. But officials revealed what they could about one of the winner's in the highest Powerball jackpot in history.

Budget Director Karen Bach and Lottery Director Jeff Hatch-Miller said they spent some "quality time" with the lucky man at a hotel suite in Scottsdale. They wouldn't reveal his job, but said it wasn't "high-level," that he enjoyed his line of work and he planned to continue working. He regularly bought Powerball tickets while living in Pennsylvania, but had only bought two tickets since he and his wife moved to Arizona a year ago.

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He went to the local 4 Sons Food Store in Fountain Hills, northeast of Phoenix, with a $20 bill and asked for $10 worth of tickets. The store clerk tried to convince him to spend the whole $20 bill, but the man said $10 was enough, Bach said. He left the ticket in his car and didn't even check it until the morning after the numbers were announced.

"He and his wife couldn't believe it," Bach said. "They checked the numbers over and over again."

Bach said she didn't know if the couple had children. Adding that he is "very smart and very financially-savvy," she said the winner immediately put together a legal and financial team before approaching the Arizona Lottery. He decided to claim his prize before the end of the year, Bach said, because of uncertainty surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff being debated on by Congress.

The man will be setting up a charitable organization, Hatch-Miller said. "They want to turn this win into something that is truly beneficial for their community."

The unidentified winner later issued a statement that said: "It is difficult to express just how thankful we are for this wonderful gift. We are extremely grateful and feel fortunate to now have an increased ability to support our charities and causes. Obviously, this has been incredibly overwhelming and we have always cherished our privacy."

The statement directed all inquiries to an Arizona law firm, which didn't immediately return a call after business hours Friday.

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What to buy with $500M lottery winnings

A Missouri mechanic and his wife, Mark and Cindy Hill, of Dearborn, Mo., already have claimed their half of the multistate Powerball prize.

The jackpot was the second-largest in U.S. history and set off a nationwide buying frenzy. At one point, tickets were selling at nearly 130,000 a minute.

Before the Nov. 28 drawing, the jackpot had rolled over 16 consecutive times without anyone hitting the jackpot. In a Mega Millions drawing in March, three ticket buyers shared a $656 million jackpot, the largest lottery payout of all time.

[topher420]

Gotta love how the winner is always some rich dude. Wish someone who actually needed the money would win.O wait hes going to help his community, o which one? the gated one he lives in with the 500,000 dollar homes, because those people are so in need of brains.

[normtrek]

who said he was rich? just very financially-savvy

[merlgrey]

how do you get a job as the guy wearing the red powerball getup? and what does it pay?

[myopinionpal]

Most states alow the winner 180 days to collect their money so why rush take your time get all of your affairs in order. Then go get your money do their press conference and once its all over get in your limo and tell the driver take you to a nearby airport and disappear to the far away place where no one knows you. That you have setup before you went to collect your money.

[nohater]

their lives are forever changed and not necessarily for the good. they can never ever trust anyone again once others know they won big. family, friends, long lost friends will come out of the woodwork asking for loans. doubt they can even drive comfortably as someone will want to have the winner rear end them so they can collect in a lawsuit. privacy will almost be lost completely. criminals may even invade their home, burglars, and who knows what else. the winners should move out of state to another place, a safer place.

[canislupus16]

Everything you mention is possible, but as for winning the lottery I'd prefer to see my glass as half full rather than half empty. These are problems anybody with money has, although most people probably do a much slower climb to the top and learn along the way (or from family in the case of inheriting or being born into money) how to deal with such "problems" incrementally. Odd how instant winning is likely to create the same problems in different ways, and certainly all at once. But look at Warren Buffet - a multibillionaire, lives in the same modest home he has for decades, no gated community, drives an old car, no apparent heavy security or other trappings of wealth. But Warren Buffet is a breed apart anyway.
I believe there ought to be anonymity associated with any lottery win, just for the sake of personal security alone. Some states do not require disclosure of the winner's name, but most do supposedly to "protect the integrity of the lottery," but it seems to be a mish-mash.
Personally, I would want absolute anonymity - wouldn't tell a single friend, family member (beyond my wife), or organization anything. It seems there are ways to achieve this. For example, form a legal entity to be the "winner," and install straw partners or members as officers of the organization, who obviously would be your legal and financial team. Why couldn't a member of your law firm or financial brokerage serve as secretary, president, or whatever officers are required? Then withdraw funds as you see fit, with taxes not payable until you actually withdraw money. It would need to be carefully set up to satisfy a number of different requirements - lottery publicity rules, state and federal tax code, organizational structure, etc.
In my state, if you win big, you can't hide. Rules require publishing name and town of winner, and there's this big photo op/press conference that goes with it; don't know if the photo is required or not; it's a problem I haven't had. But on the other hand, apparently almost any type of entity can be a legal winner: individuals, unaffiliated groups, associations (legal/formal), corporations (profit/non-profit), etc.
I recall some winner in one of the New England states a couple years ago, that requires disclosure. The official "winner" was a brokerage house, apparently as custodian of the winnings.

[CBS_Fan2117]

Why can't every state allow you to remain anonymous? I agree with what you said. Winning a windfall like this could actually put your life in jeopardy. There are just too many crazy people out there who will do almost anything to get their greedy hands on this amount of money. I would do everything in my power to remain anonymous. Congrats to the winner. It sure was not me. Glad I only spent 2 dollars.