45-year-old engineer comes forward as Minn. winner of Powerball lottery

Updated at 4:31 p.m. ET

MINNEAPOLIS Project engineer Paul White said one of the first things he's going to buy with his winning Powerball lottery ticket is the Acura NSX car he's been eyeing on Craigslist for a couple of months, on sale for $30,000. As the owner of the winning ticket bought in Minnesota, White won $149.4 million, one-third of the Wed. jackpot.

"I think I had 10 people verify the ticket before I left the office," said White, in a press conference organized Thursday afternoon by the Minnesota state lottery officials.

White, who works at Elliott Contracting in Minneapolis, said that he learned he won the jackpot this morning after his significant other called him at work and told him there was a jackpot winner in Minnesota.

White knew he had two tickets with the Powerball number of 32. He checked the ticket and discovered the remaining numbers on one of those lines matched the numbers 5-25-0-58-29 and he was the winner of the $149.4 million jackpot. He selected the $86 million cash option.

White is a divorced father of a 16-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter. Originally from Wisconsin, he moved to Minnesota in 1987.

"I feel this pressure off my shoulders that you carry everyday with you," said White, adding that he now doesn't have to worry about paying for his children's college education.

He attended the press conference with his colleagues and joked with one of them, "Ron started the day my boss, he's going to end the day my chauffeur."

"Imagine what it's like to say, 'Go pick up you own car, go pick out your own house, whatever you want.' It's amazing," said White, about his 80-year-old father and 77-year-old mother. He said he's going to buy his dad back the first car he owned in 1963.

"I'm not going to be one of those people who says I'm going to keep working. I'm never going to work for someone again," said White, although he added that he will not be leaving his job anytime soon as "things are so busy."

White's winning ticket is worth a lump sum of $86 million before taxes, or $58.3 million after taxes.

The store that sold White his winning ticket is called Holiday, in Ham Lake, Anoka County. The store will receive a $50,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

This is Minnesota's 22nd Powerball jackpot winner. The state record was a ticket sold in 2011 to Thomas and Kathleen Morris, of Burnsville, who chose the $123.6 million cash option.

The two other winning tickets for the $448.4 million jackpot were sold in New Jersey. Neither of those winners have come forward yet. Each of those winners will receive $86 million before taxes, approximately $62 million after taxes.

Carole Hedinger, of the New Jersey Lottery held a press conference Thursday afternoon at one of two stores that sold the winning tickets.

"Our luck has turned. We're not only Jersey strong, we're Jersey lucky," said Hedinger, about two of three tickets being won in New Jersey.

She presented the Super Stop and Shop in South Bruswick with a check of $30,000. Both stores in New Jersey will receive this sum.