Short Order Cook To Millionaire

The big $100 million millennium lottery held in New York on New Year's Eve only had one winning ticket. The lucky new multi-millionaire winner is 66-year-old Johnnie Ely, a short-order cook from the Bronx.

The drawing was made on New Year's Eve, but it took Ely - who opted for a lump sum cash payment of $44,371,562 before taxes - a few days to find out that he was the winner of the largest jackpot ever offered in the 32-year history of the New York State Lottery.

"On my way to work Sunday, I walked by where I bought my tickets and saw the sign 'We sold the $100 million ticket,' but it just didn't click," Ely said in a statement.

"On Monday, I heard on the radio that the winner still hadn't claimed the prize. I checked my ticket, had my son double check for me, then my wife," said Ely.

He resigned from his job in a Times Square district restaurant, but Ely said at a news conference that he would not change his lifestyle. His wife Rosemary, a nurse for 35 years, also quit her job. They have three adult children.

If Ely had not elected to take a lump sum cash payment, he would have received the $100 million in equal annual payments spread over 25 years.